Secrets
by writtinginthedark
Summary: We all have secrets, but what will happen when Jess learns Becker's? She had just been expecting to pick up the forms she needed that Becker had taken home. She hadn't expected to learn that Becker had been keeping secrets from the team since the day he started at the ARC. Will the truth change their relationship and allow them to finally admit how they feel about each other?
1. Revealed

**Author's note:** This idea's been playing around in my head for a while now, so I've decided that it must be written. I think it will end up being a lot lighter than _Open Mic Night_ was, as well as shorter (I hope). I've rated it T because of language that may occur in later chapters, but other than that it could probably pass as a K or K+ story. I hope you enjoy the story; I'm certainly enjoying writing it, please feel welcome to leave reviews, feedback is always appreciated. I will try to update as frequently as I was my last story.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or any of its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 1 – Revealed**

Jess was finishing off the last of her paper work for the day and getting ready to head home when Lester came storming out of his office. He came marching over to the ADD and Jess tried to repress a sigh, she had a feeling she wasn't as finished with work for the day as she had originally thought.

"Jess, where are those reports I asked for?" Lester demanded as soon as he was within hearing range.

"They're in the folder I left on your desk."

"There is only one folder on my desk and the only things in it are incomplete security reports and EMD replacement request forms."

"Damn it. Becker must have taken the wrong folder off my desk."

"Well could you please tell him to come and switch the folders immediately?"

"I can't. He's already left for the day."

"Then you're just going to have to go and collect them. I need those reports for my meeting with the minister tomorrow morning." Before Jess could say anything to argue, Lester turned and went back into his office.

Finished with the paper work Jess collected her things and the folder that was meant for Becker, and left the ARC for the day.

Jess decided to stop by Becker's place on her way home rather than on her way to work the next day. Lester's meeting was first thing and Jess didn't want to disturb Becker that early in the morning, as he had the following day off.

* * *

Arriving at Becker's house, Jess checked the address one last time before going to knock on the door. As she waited for Becker to answer, Jess took in her surroundings. It was a nice neighbourhood; houses lined both sides of the street and Jess couldn't see one that didn't have an immaculately kept lawn. Becker's house was modest sized and looked like it could comfortably house a small family. She couldn't help but wonder why the Captain would need so much space.

The front door opened and Jess was surprised to see a woman—who looked to be a couple years older than her—on the other side.

"I'm sorry," Jess said, a frown forming. "I must have the wrong address. I'm looking for a Captain Becker?"

"No, you've got the right place. How do you know Hil?"

"Oh, right. My name is Jess Parker, I work with Becker." Jess tried to hide her confusion. Who was this woman? She clearly knew Becker well since she knew his first name.

"I'm Melissa Becker." The woman told her, shaking Jess' hand. Jess' heart broke when she heard the woman's name. Was this Becker's wife?

"So you're Jess? Hilary's told me so much about you." Melissa continued, oblivious to the turmoil Jess was experiencing. "Hil had to go out quickly, but he should be home soon. Why don't you come in?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Becker's truck pulled up in the drive way and then he was making his way towards them.

"Daddy!" came a call from inside and then two little girls were pushing past the women in the doorway and running towards Becker, who crouched down to catch them in his arms.

 _Daddy?! Becker's married?! And he has two daughters?! How does no one know about this?_

Jess felt like her whole world was falling apart as she watched Becker stand up, carrying the youngest—who looked to be around three—and make his way to the door.

"Jess? What are you doing here?" Becker's surprised voice brought Jess' thoughts back to the task at hand.

"You accidently took the wrong folder from my desk earlier, the one you took has the reports that Lester needs for his meeting tomorrow in it. Since you had already left and won't be in tomorrow he asked me if I could collect the folder. I also brought you the one you were meant to take home." Jess hoped no one heard the tremor in her voice. She felt like crying, but would rather wait until she was in the privacy of her car to do that.

"Ah sorry I-"

"Mel let us watch movies all day." said the older girl, cutting off Becker's reply. Looking at her Jess guessed she was around nine years old.

"Oh she did, did she?" Becker said, looking at the woman Jess had assumed was his wife. "I'll have to have a talk to her about that."

"And that sounds like my que to leave."

"But Auntie Mel, you promised to play fairy princess with me!" chirped the girl in Becker's arms.

 _Wait, Auntie?_

"Sorry kiddo, next time. I promise."

The girl pouted but didn't argue further. Melissa disappeared inside, only to return moments later with a bag slung over her shoulder. She said goodbye to her three family members and then turned to Jess.

"It was lovely to meet you Jess. I hope next time we get more of a chance to talk, I'd love to see what it is that makes my brother talk so much about you."

Throwing a grin at Becker—who was making sure he looked anywhere but at Jess—Melissa got in her car.

"Why don't you come inside Jess and I'll get that folder for you."

Jess nodded and followed Becker into the house.

###

The inside of the house was as spacious as Jess had thought it would be. The front door lead into a small alcove and from there Jess could see a kitchen/dining area to the left and a living room to the right. The living room currently looked like a play room, as it had toys of every nature scattered across it. Seeing the mess Becker told his daughters to tidy it up, before walking down a corridor that Jess assumed led to the bedrooms, to get Jess' folder.

Jess stood in the alcove trying not to obsess over what she had just learnt. But it turned out that finding out that the man you thought you were falling in love with had two daughters and possibly a wife, was not something that could easily be pushed aside.

Becker returned and handed Jess the folder she had come for. She quickly checked inside to make sure it was the reports Lester needed. Satisfied that she had what she came for, Jess looked up at Becker.

"So, that was your sister."

"Yeah. She looks after the girls for me occasionally."

They stood in silence, neither of them sure of what to say.

"How come none of us know you're married and have two daughters?" Jess blurted out before she could stop herself.

Sighing Becker ran a hand through his hair. "We're going to have to talk about this, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I think we are."

"Well, we may as well have a coffee while we talk."

Becker led her into the kitchen and started making the drinks. While he did that, Jess sat at the counter and waited until he was ready to start talking.

"Well, firstly, I'm not married and before you ask, no I never have been. As for the girls, Lester knows about them, and it's not like I was trying to hide them from the rest of you."

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

Jess wrapped her hands around the mug Becker had placed in front of her. They were both keeping their voices low, neither of them wanting the girls to overhear the conversation.

"There was never a good time to. First, I was new to the team and didn't know anyone well enough to feel comfortable telling them. Then Abby, Connor, and Danny disappeared. After that it just seemed like too much time had passed."

They sat, drinking their coffees in silence. Jess could empathise with Becker. The situation with his daughters was clearly a complicated one and she could understand how he might find it hard to talk about it. But there was still a part of her that was hurt by the fact that Becker hadn't trusted her enough to tell her. She had thought they were closer than that.

"I guess you're wondering about their mother." Becker said, breaking the silence that had once again fallen over them.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, you may as well know the whole story." Becker took a deep breath before continuing. "Maddie was the product of a drunken night with my girlfriend when I was 17. I _hate_ referring to her like that; it makes her sound like something I regret, which I could never do. I adore both my daughters and wouldn't give them up for anything. But, unfortunately, that is how Maddie came into my life and there's no point pretending she didn't."

Jess was taken aback by how open Becker was being with her. Sure, they were close and he told her more than he did anyone else, but he was shearing personal stuff with her now. Something Becker never did.

"After we learnt Maddie was on the way Bianca and I moved in together. Maddie was born and we were happy. Bianca and I got engaged when Maddie was three, though neither of us was in a hurry to set a date and get married. We decided we wanted Maddie to have a sibling and thought we may as well do that before getting married. Bianca fell pregnant again and I couldn't have been happier, turned out Bianca could have been. She reconnected with an old boyfriend a few months before Lily was born and left with him just hours after she had Lily."

"Oh my God! What kind of a person does that? You must have been devastated."

"To be honest, I had almost expected it. We had been drifting apart for months. What was hard was explaining to a five year old that she had a little sister now but her mother was gone. You should have seen the pitying looks the nurses gave me as I took Lily home."

Jess couldn't stop herself from pulling Becker into a tight hug. He looked so sad as he relieved what must have been an incredibly painful part of his life. She couldn't believe that Becker had been raising these two young girls by himself for three years. Jess hated Bianca for what she put this family through and if Jess ever had the displeasure of meeting her, she was going to give the woman a piece of her mind.

After a moment's hesitation Becker returned the embrace, pulling her close. They stayed that way until Jess felt a tug on her cardigan. Looking down Jess's gaze was met with big brown eyes and a toothy grin.

"I'm Lily. Who are you?"

"My name's Jess."

"Are you a friend of Daddy's?"

"I like to think I am."

"Will you stay for dinner?"

"Oh…um…I um…" Jess stammered, not sure of how to answer. Truthfully, she would have loved to stay and have dinner with Becker, and get to watch him interact with his daughters more, but she wasn't sure if Becker would want her to.

"Please. We never get to meet any of Daddy's friends."

"I was beginning to think he didn't have any," came a voice from the door way. Looking over Jess saw Maddie standing there with a smile on her face that was so much like Becker's it was startling.

"Well now you're going to have to stay. I can't have my daughter thinking I'm some sort of friendless loser." Becker said from next to Jess, one of his arms still wrapped around her; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by Maddie.

"Okay, I'll stay."

* * *

Jess didn't get home until late that night. Dinner had been just as enjoyable as Jess had hoped it would be. Lily had kept up most of the conversation, telling Jess all about her life at day care and asking her every question imaginable, which Jess answered to the best of her ability. Maddie was a little harder to engage, she seemed almost wary of Jess, but she was more than happy to interact with her father and Jess was content observing the relationship between the two of them.

After dinner, once Becker had taken Lily to bed and Maddie had gone to do homework, Jess found herself back in the kitchen with Becker, talking over a cup of tea. He told her about how he took time off after bringing Lily home so he could care for her, and how he'd taken the job at the ARC so he wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of deployment. He had wanted to be around for his daughters as much as he could, and had felt working at the ARC would allow him to do that, while still being able to serve his country.

Jess had always thought very highly of Becker, but learning that he had been doing the job they did, while raising two girls on his own had increased her opinion of him—something she hadn't thought possible—and made her feelings for him that much stronger.

 _My God, I'm in deep._


	2. Babysitting

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 2 – Babysitting**

Jess leant back in her oversized chair; it was finally the end of what had turned out to be a very long week. She had just finished guiding the team through their fourth alert this week, which also happened to be their second anomaly of the day. This anomaly had been a difficult one and a few of the soldiers had been injured, though not seriously. Now all Jess had to do was wait for the team to get back, download the data from their black boxes, and then she was home free. A relaxing night at home watching her favourite movie, with a glass of wine and some takeout was exactly what she needed.

The team arrived in the hub as Jess was musing over her evening plans. As each black box was returned, Jess connected it to the ADD to download its data, grateful that it wasn't a long process as it meant she would soon be able to head home. Connecting the last black box Jess noticed Becker lingering in her peripheral. Jess turned to Becker and smiled up at him.

"Was there something you needed Becker?"

Becker sighed before coming to stand beside her. "I'm in a bit of a situation and was wondering if you'd be willing to help me out?"

"Of course Becker, what did you need?"

"With Johnson and Blake out injured I have to come into work tomorrow and I was wondering if you'd be able to look after the girls. Normally I'd ask Mel to do it but she's started university in Manchester and it's too late for me call one of the services I use when Mel is unavailable."

"I'd be happy to watch them, if you're sure Maddie and Lily won't mind spending the day with me."

"I'm sure they won't mind, Lily hasn't stopped talking about how pretty you are since you were over on Monday. I can drop them off at you place on the way to work if that's easiest."

Jess blushed at being called pretty by Becker, even if the compliment was technically coming from his three year old daughter.

"That'd be great."

"Great. I'll be by around seven. Thanks Jess this is a big help."

With that Becker was gone and Jess was left wondering if agreeing to babysit had been a good idea.

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Jess woke up to the shrill sound of her alarm. Groaning she rolled over to look at the time.

 _Ugh, why on earth is my alarm going off at 6am on a Saturday?_

Hitting the off button Jess rolled over, pulled her quilt up to under her chin, and tried to go back to sleep. It was as her mind was receding into unconsciousness that she remembered the reason she set her alarm last night. Becker was bringing Maddie and Lily over at seven o'clock so Jess could watch them for the day. Looking at her clock again Jess saw twenty minutes had passed since the alarm had woke her up.

 _Shit! They'll be here in forty minutes._

Jess scrambled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to take a shower. After a quick shower—which was hard for Jess as she usually preferred long ones—Jess was back in her room searching for something to wear. Thinking that it be best if she wore something comfortable since she'd be spending the day with kids, Jess decided on a pair of blue skinny jeans, a pale pink long sleeved t-shirt, and black flats. Throwing her hair up into a quick pony tail, Jess looked herself over in the mirror. Deciding she looked presentable Jess went to make sure the rest of the flat did as well.

By the time seven o'clock came around, Jess had tidied her flat and managed to have a small breakfast. She had just collapsed on the couch when there was a knock on the door.

Opening the door Jess saw Becker, Lily asleep in his arms and Maddie by his side.

"Hey, come in." Jess said moving out of the way.

"Hey, is there somewhere I can lay Lily down, she fell asleep in the car."

"No I didn't Daddy; I just didn't want to walk." Lily exclaimed, lifting her head from his shoulder.

Becker put Lily down; giving her the small Barbie backpack he was holding. "Is that so? Well, you better not pull any of that on Jess."

"Don't worry Dad; I'll make sure she behaves."

"That's my girl." Becker smiled at Maddie, and then turned to Jess. "They've already…" Becker's voice trailed off as he took in what Jess was wearing. He was so surprised that he stood there, staring at her with a frown on his face.

"What?" Jess asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"I've just…never seen you in something so…normal."

"I thought it best to be dressed comfortably. Does it look bad?"

"No, not at all; just different." He smiled at her and Jess blushed, both at the comment he made and at the look he was giving her.

"You were saying?" Jess prompted after they had been standing in silence for a while.

"Right. They've already had breakfast but will probably be hungry again in a couple of hours. They've got numerous things to entertain themselves in their bags but will probably still try to talk you into letting them watch TV all day, I'd really prefer it if they didn't. They've also got a packed lunch each."

"Becker you didn't have to do that, I do have food in the house you know."

"I know. But you're already doing this for me; I didn't want to put you out anymore."

Jess smiled at him, she loved how thoughtful Becker was.

"Thanks again Jess, this really means a lot."

"It's no problem Becker."

He smiled at her and then turned to his daughters.

"Okay you two, be good. I'll see you tonight."

Crouching down Becker pulled each of his daughters to him and kissed them both on the cheek, before standing and kissing Jess' cheek as well. They both froze; Jess biting her lip to keep from grinning, and Becker blushing when he realised what he had done.

"Um…I'll see you later." Becker muttered before making a hasty retreat.

With Becker gone Jess turned to look at the two little girls she had been left in charge of. Lily had made herself comfortable on the floor of Jess' living room, pulling out a colouring book and crayons. Maddie, on the other hand, was looking up at Jess with an expression on her face that Jess couldn't quite interpret the meaning of. But a second later it was gone and Maddie was joining her sister on the floor, leaving Jess to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Jess saw that it was only just 7:15 and wondered what she was going to do with the girls. Sure Becker said they had brought things to keep them entertained, but Jess didn't really believe that those two tiny backpacks held enough things to keep them amused for what could easily be the whole day, longer if a particularly bad anomaly opened up. Plus she'd feel bad keeping them cooped up all day.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Jess checked the weather for the day, an idea forming in her head. According to the weather report it was going to be warm and sunny, just what she was hoping for.

"Hey girls, what do you say to taking a trip to the zoo today?"

"Really?" Lily asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Sure, you've both already got lunch packed, I'll make something for myself, and we can take it all with us and have a picnic."

"I don't know," Maddie said. "Dad doesn't like not knowing where we are, and he won't know we're at the zoo."

"Becker will be fine with it. He knows you're with me and I won't let anything happen to you."

"Okay." Maddie still sounded reluctant when she agreed to go, but Jess could tell that there was a part of her that was looking forward to getting to spend the day outdoors.


	3. The Zoo

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 3 – The Zoo**

By the time Jess had packed everything she thought they'd need for their day at the zoo, and got them all seated comfortably in her small car it was after 9 o'clock. Meaning they didn't actually get to the zoo until 10, and when they did they found a long ticket line waiting for them.

It was 11 o'clock by the time they actually made it through the front gate. They decided that instead of going to see every exhibit, they would pick four each and those were the ones they would see. The first exhibit they went to was one of Lily's choices, as the three-year-old couldn't wait to see the monkeys. They spent a good twenty minutes at that exhibit—Jess taking countless photos on her phone—before Lily allowed them to move on.

Up next was Maddie's first choice; the tiger habitat. It was a large enclosure with floor to ceiling glass that allowed you to see the tigers no matter where they were. All three of them enjoyed watching the tigers prowl through the habitat and climbing the tall trees. Though Jess thought Lily got a bit frightened when she saw one attack the post that its food was on.

From there they moved on to the African animals' exhibit. This enclosure was even larger than the tiger's one and housed a variety of animals. They could see zebras, okapis, warthogs—which Jess thought looked better animated—and African hunting dogs. But the best part by far was seeing the giraffes up close. They were huge, far bigger in person than in pictures or on TV. Seeing them took Jess' breath away, they just looked so majestic, and she couldn't believe how long their tongues were. Jess could have stood there looking at them all day, but eventually, Lily and Maddie made them move on.

After that they decided to stop for lunch. They chose a picnic table under a tree that protected them from most of the sun. While they ate they discussed the animals they had seen so far, sharing which ones were their favourites, and deciding on which other enclosures they'd like to see while they were there. Like at dinner earlier that week Lily kept up most of the conversation—the three-year-old clearly liked to talk—and Jess and Maddie were quite content to let her continue to do so. Though Jess was pleased to see that Maddie was starting to open up around her, it didn't take as much prompting from Jess to get the girl to interact with her.

When they were finished eating they continued making their way through the zoo, taking turns choosing what animals they would see. Lily was a fan of visiting the cuter animals, choosing to go see the meerkats, the butterfly enclosure, and the small aquarium that was a part of the zoo. Like when they went and saw the monkeys, Lily had Jess take lots of pictures at each habitat. Especially when they were in the butterfly enclosure and the butterflies would come and land on her.

Jess, like Lily, preferred going to see the cuddlier looking animals, choosing that they go and visit the lemurs, otters, and penguins. When they saw the lemurs, Jess couldn't help but think that they were another animal that looked cuter in animated movies than they did in real life. The otters were adorable, though she couldn't see why people were always comparing Benedict Cumberbatch to one. Jess always enjoyed watching the penguins waddle about, it never failed to make her laugh; and it seemed Lily enjoyed seeing them waddle just as much as Jess did.

Maddie on the other hand was a bit more adventurous than Jess and Lily, choosing to see the reptile habitat, the fruit bat enclosure, and—much to Jess' dismay—the bug exhibit. Jess had a feeling that the nine-year-old would get along very well with Abby if they ever got the chance to meet. Visiting the reptile and fruit bat enclosures hadn't been too bad, Jess was more than happy to stand back and watch as Maddie read all the information she could about the animals. Visiting the bug exhibit on the other hand was harder. Despite all the bugs being in enclosures with think walls of glass separating them, Jess still felt like they were crawling all over her. Luckily by the time they got to that exhibit they had already been walking around the zoo all afternoon and both of the girls were tired.

They left the zoo after a quick stop in the gift shop, in which they each picked out a souvenir. Maddie choosing a lizard pencil case for school, Lily a plush monkey whose arms wrapped around her neck, and Jess a giraffe key chain to add to her key ring and ever growing collection of key chains.

"Jess," Maddi said as she helped the woman move the now sleeping Lily into the car seat and buckle her up.

"Yeah hon."

"Thanks for bringing us to the zoo today. Dad works a lot, so it's been a while since we've done something like this, it was fun."

"You're welcome kiddo, I had fun too. What d' you say to picking up something to make for dinner on our way home, and then when Becker comes to pick you up we can all have dinner together."

"Sounds good," Maddie said, smiling at Jess.

Jess was glad she had been able to give the girls a fun day; she hadn't realised Becker's heavy work schedule had such a negative impact on his daughters.

 _Though up until a week ago I hadn't known he had daughters._

* * *

Jess and the girls were in her kitchen getting dinner ready. On the way home from the zoo they had stopped at the grocery store near Jess' flat to pick up some premade pizza bases and toppings to cook that night.

Lily and Maddie were sitting—or in Lily's case kneeling—on two of the high stools Jess had at her kitchen bench, preparing one of the pizza bases. Jess smiled as she watched them. They were using the toppings to make a face on the pizza, giggling as they gave it pepperoni eyes and a capsicum smile.

It was as they were laughing that they heard a knock on the front door.

"Daddy!" Lily exclaimed as she tried to get down from the stool she was on.

"Hang on," Jess said helping her down. "Let me go answer the door, just in case it's not your dad. You guys wait here."

"Okay, but hurry up." Lily groaned, clearly impatient to see her father.

As she opened the door Jess smiled at how eager the three-year-old was. Becker was standing on the other side, looking tired, but he smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, come in." Jess said, moving out of the way. "How was your day?"

"Long."

"Well you can relax now. Come through, we're all in the kitchen." But they hadn't got further than the living room when the girls came running in.

"Daddy!" Lily yelled as she ran to Becker, Maddie right behind her. Jess smiled as she watched Becker crouch down so he could pull both of his daughters in to a tight hug.

 _Oh God, that is so adorable._

"Dad, guess what," Maddie said, tugging on Becker's shirt to get his attention.

"What?"

"We went to the zoo today."

"You did?" Becker looked at Jess in surprise.

"Yeah, and it was so much fun." Maddie continued. The oven timer chimed and Jess went into the kitchen to take the finished pizza out.

"Did you girls finish putting everything you wanted on this one?" Jess called over her shoulder.

"Yeah." Maddie replied, before continuing to tell Becker about their day. "Jess showed us how to make her secret pizza sauce."

"Did she?"

"I did, and I hate to break it to you Becker, but you're all going to have to stay for dinner. There's far too much food for just one person."

Jess could hear murmuring from the living room that sounded like Becker telling the girls to go wash up. Moments later Becker joined Jess in the kitchen.

"You didn't have to do that you know."

"Well, I knew you would have had a long day and doubted you'd feel like cooking, and I figured this would be better than take out."

"That's not what I meant. But no, you didn't have to do all this either."

"Yeah, well, you've got to eat."

"Seriously Jess, you didn't have to take them out."

"Oh hush. It was a beautiful day and I wasn't going to keep them cooped up. Besides, do you know how long it's been since I've gone to the zoo? I had just as much fun as they did."

"Daddy, look what Jessie got me." Lily said coming into the kitchen to show Becker her new toy monkey.

"Wow, look at that. Did you remember to say thank you?"

"Of course," Lily said indignantly, as if suggesting that she may forget was the most preposterous thing in the world. Turning on her heels she went back into the living room.

"Really Jess? Souvenirs as well."

"Okay, maybe I got a little carried away. I do the same thing when I look after my brother's kids."

Dinner was ready then and they all sat down at the small table in Jess dining area to eat. Over the meal Jess and the girls told Becker all about their day at the zoo. Jess also showed him the photos she had taken on her phone, promising to send him all the ones of his daughters. When he asked her to also send him the one of her, Maddie and Lily in the butterfly enclosure Jess had to bite down on the grin that was threatening to take over her face; telling herself that he wanted the photo because his daughters were in it and for no other reason.

Becker listened intently, asking questions about each of the animals they had gone to visit. He seemed far less surprised than Jess had been by the selections Maddie had made, and Jess wondered why he had never introduced the girl to Abby, as she was certain the two would be the best of friends.

Though when Maddie mentioned going to see the bug exhibit, Becker was less than happy, to say the least.

"The bug exhibit? Really Jessica? Please tell me you at least had an EpiPen on you." Becker said, clearly trying not to raise his voice too much in front of Maddie and Lily.

"Of course I did. Do you really think I would spend a day outdoors without one?"

"Still, you shouldn't have gone to that exhibit."

"Becker the insects are behind thick glass walls; I was more likely to be bitten walking from one enclosure to another than I was in there."

"Did I do something wrong by choosing to go see the bugs?" Maddie spoke up timidly, obviously sensing the tension between the adults.

"Not at all," Jess told her; shooting a glare at Becker, daring him to contradict her.

Becker sighed. "No sweet heart. I'm just overreacting. You see, Jess gets very sick if she's bitten by a bug, and I was just worried about her."

"I'm sorry Jess, I didn't know."

"No, don't apologise. If I thought it wasn't safe for me to go to that exhibit I would have told you. You have nothing to apologise for, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now why don't you tell Becker about the tigers."

The subject was dropped and they continued their earlier discussion, talking until Lily was having trouble keeping her eyes open and Becker decided it was time to go home.


	4. Shopping

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 4 – Shopping**

Jess was sitting at the ADD waiting for the monthly diagnostic to finish running so she could clock out for the day. Looking at the timer Jess groaned, she had another 45 minutes to wait before it was done. For some reason it was taking longer today than it normally did. Sure it was a lengthy process that usually took a few hours to complete, that was why Jess had set it to run as soon as she had returned from lunch. It should have finished an hour before Jess' shift ended, but here she was half an hour passed the end of her shift, and still waiting. What made it worse was that because the diagnostic was still running; Jess was still logged into the system and couldn't log out, meaning she couldn't hand over to her replacement, who was wandering aimlessly around the hub, looking for something to do. This made Jess feel even more frustrated.

 _Surely he has some paperwork or something that he could be doing._

Jess felt a presence come up behind her, but, assuming it was the irritating lab technician waiting to replace her come to check on the status of the diagnostic—again—Jess didn't bother turning around.

"So, apparently I know nothing about fashion," said a familiar voice; one that Jess found considerably less annoying then the one that had been interrupting her thoughts every ten minutes for the last half an hour.

"Becker, why exactly are you telling me something I already knew?" Jess said turning around to face him.

"Because I may be in need of your help again."

"And why's that?"

"Because Lily's starting dance lessons and needs all this _equipment_ , which is just all clothes and shoes, and apparently everything I bought her was wrong."

Jess laughed at the image of Becker buying clothes for his three year old daughter to go dancing in. She could picture him purchasing items more suited for playing sport than dancing in.

"I'm glad you find my struggles so funny. You know I didn't have this problem when Maddie started playing football."

"Of course you didn't, you probably played football when you were growing up. Lucky for you, I danced as a child, when does she start?"

"This Saturday."

"Okay, that doesn't leave a lot of time. I'll tell you what, everything's open late tonight, why don't I come over once this is finished running and we'll go shopping together. That way I can show you the appropriate dance attire."

Becker sighed in relief. "Thanks Jess, that'd be great."

"No problem. I'll be over as soon as this diagnostic has finished running."

 _If it ever finishes running._

* * *

It took another half an hour for the program to finish, and by the time Jess got to Becker's it was after six o'clock. Parking her car in the drive way Jess went and knocked on the door.

"Hey Jess, come in," Becker said opening the door. "The girls are just having something to eat; we'll go as soon as their done."

Jess followed him into the kitchen. As she entered the room, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw that it was the photo of her, Maddie, and Lily that she had taken last week at the zoo, taped to the fridge. The three of them were sitting close together—so they would all fit in the frame—holding up the butterflies that had landed on each of their hands. Jess bit down the grin that was threatening to come over her face at seeing the photo on display.

 _Calm down Jess it's not like he put the photo up because you're in it, he put it up because it's a photo of his daughters at the zoo, looking adorable._

 _Still, he didn't crop me out, that has to mean something._

 _You're reading too much into this._

 _Or maybe I'm not. I've only ever seen photos of Lily and Maddie around the house, now there's on that includes me as well…_

"Jessie!" Lily exclaimed, drawing Jess' attention away from her internal argument.

"Hey girls."

"Are you going help find dance clothes for me?"

"I am."

"I don't know why Dad didn't just ask for your help to begin with." Maddie added, rolling her eyes.

Jess repressed a smile.

 _Someone's teen attitude is coming through early._

"Okay you two, hurry up and finish or Lily's going to be stuck with the clothes I bought her."

Lily gasped in horror.

"Why don't you show me what you bought and I'll tell you if you can use any of it."

Becker nodded then left the room, gesturing for Jess to follow. They crossed through the living room, which was a lot cleaner than the last time Jess had seen it, and continued down the hallway attached to it. He led her to the room at the far end of the hall, which had Lily's name spelt out on it in colourful foam letters.

"Wow. This looks like my room did when I was little." Jess said as she followed Becker into the room.

The walls were painted a pale pink and decorated with faery, butterfly, and princess decals. The bed was covered with a Disney princess bed spread and had stuffed animals lined up across it. At its foot sat a large wooden chest, the words 'Lily's toy box' written across the top in glittery pink paint. Lined up across the top of Lily's dresser sat framed photos of her, Becker, and her sister.

"That doesn't surprise me, sometimes the two of you remind me of each other so much it's scary. I have no idea how she turned out to have such a big personality, or such a love for bright colours, though I suppose I have you to thank for her sudden shoe obsession."

"She may have seen the inside of my closet when they were over on Saturday. As for the other thing, does Melissa have a big personality? Because if they spend a lot of time together she could have got it from her."

"Not really, besides she spends more time at childcare than with Melissa."

"Well, there's your answer, she would've picked it up from someone there."

"I guess so. Anyway, this is what I bought." Becker pulled a shopping bag out of the wardrobe and handed it to Jess.

Jess looked inside the bag. "Did they give you a list of what she'd need?"

"Yeah." Becker handed Jess a piece of paper he pulled out of his wallet.

Jess looked over the list and compared it to the items in the bag. "Oh Becker, you weren't kidding were you."

"That bad, huh?"

"Well," Jess said as she started pulling things out of the bag. "These are ballet flats, and despite the name, there no good for dancing, you want point shoes, or canvas slippers, or soft leather slip ons, it depends on the style of dance. And these are leggings, not tights, you'll need to buy tights but I'd hang onto the leggings, she may get some use out of them. I don't see any leotards in here and I won't even go into what's wrong with the dress and skirt."

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a long shopping trip?"

* * *

Jess took them to a dance supply shop in a local shopping centre, and soon enough she had Lily in the dressing rooms trying on countless outfits while Becker waited outside.

"Okay, all we need now is shoes." Jess said as she and Lily emerged from the changing rooms. "Lily why don't you go with Maddie and give that stuff back to the lady and tell her you won't be needing it."

"Okay." The two girls hurried off together.

"Jess," Becker said as soon as the girls were out of hearing range. "Is all of that really necessary?"

"I swear Becker; I only got the bear minimum."

"No, the amount isn't the problem, it's just some of those tops and shorts were…well…quite short."

"I thought you liked short clothing?" Jess said, teasing him.

"Yeah, on you, not my daughter." Becker's face went red when he realised what he said.

Not wanting to embarrass him further, Jess let the comment slide, though she was secretly thrilled to hear he paid so much attention to what she wore.

"The tops and shorts are only for lessons, the dresses are what she'll perform in, so hardly anyone will see her in them. Plus, you're meant to wear jogging bottoms and a jumper over your practice clothes when going to and from the studio. But if it bothers you that much you could get a leotard instead, though she said she found them uncomfortable."

"No, I don't want her to be uncomfortable."

They purchased the clothes and then went in search of a store that sold children's dance shoes, finally finding some in the third place they tried. They found a pair Lily liked and Becker was surprised to learn that they cost less than the shoes he had bought mistakenly. Jess laughed when he mentioned this and told him he needed to go shopping with her more often, she could probably find him everything he needed at half the price.

"Jessie," Lily said from besides Jess. The two of them were walking hand in hand back to Becker's car.

"Yeah sweetie?"

"It's my birthday next week."

"Is it?"

"Mmhmm. We're having a party with all my friends on the weekend."

"Well that'll be fun."

"You should come," Becker called from ahead of them. "I'll need someone to keep me sane around all the kids."

"Won't Melissa be there?"

"Yeah, like I said, I'll need someone to keep me sane around all the kids."

Jess laughed.

"You'll come, won't you Jessie?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Lily beamed up at her, clearly happy with the answer.

Jess knew she shouldn't be spending so much time with this little family; she didn't want the girls to get the wrong idea. But she loved being around them, plus it was Becker, how could she possibly say no to anything he asked of her.

* * *

Back at Becker's they said their goodbyes out in the driveway. Lily gave Jess a hug, thanking her for coming shopping and telling her that she couldn't wait for her to meet her friends. Maddie on the other hand just said goodbye before following her sister to the front door.

"Thanks for the help." Becker said when it was just the two of them by Jess' car.

"No worries."

Taking a chance Jess steps forward and wrapped her arms around Becker, pulling him into a hug. There was only a slight hesitation and then Becker was returning the embrace. Jess could have sworn she felt him press a light kiss to her forehead, but it was so faint she might have imagined it.

Pulling away Jess smiled up at him. "Bye," she said softly.

"Bye," he replied in an equally low voice.

Getting into her car Jess pulled out of the drive way. Looking back she waved at Becker and saw that Maddie was watching from the door step, a contemplative look on her face as she observed her father.


	5. Birthday Party

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 5 – Birthday Party**

 _Is this really a good idea? What if people assume you're his girlfriend?_

 _Who cares, that's clearly not an issue for him otherwise he wouldn't have invited me. Maybe he wants people to assume I'm his girlfriend._

 _Okay, now you're reading too much into this._

 _That may be, but he wouldn't have invited me if he didn't want me there. Besides I've already said I'd go, I can't back out now._

She had been having internal arguments like this ever since Becker had invited her to Lily's birthday party over a week ago. Jess couldn't work out what his motives were. Did he really just want her there so he wasn't dealing with children the whole time? Or was there something more behind his invitation?

Jess hoped there was. She's had feelings for the Captain for a long time now, and the more time they spent together the stronger they got.

She knew she probably should have cut her loses when she found out about Maddie and Lily. She had always known that Becker could be emotionally distant some of—okay most of—the time, and learning that he had this whole life none of them knew about, should have set off warning bells. It was never a good idea to get involved with someone with so much baggage. But finding out about his other life had only increased her opinion of him—she doubted she would have been able to do the job they did and raise two kids single-handedly—and if she was being honest, she loved Lily and Maddie as well.

But did he have to be so damn inconsistent all the time. At work it was business as usual; they hung out, there would be some flirting and teasing, the occasional chocolate bar would find its way to her desk. But then when they were together outside of work it was different; it felt like they were closer, like their interactions had more meaning. They never parted without sharing a quick embrace and she had caught him watching her as she interacted with the girls more than once.

Jess sighed in frustration; she was so confused.

Just as she finished wrapping the present she had bought for Lily her phone rang.

"Jess?" Becker asked the moment she answered the phone.

"Yes, Becker? Really, who did you think it would be? It is my phone you rang."

Jess could practically hear Becker rolling his eyes at her.

"I realise that Jessica."

"Well then, what can I do for you, Hilary?"

"I'm dealing with a bit of an emergency…"

"Oh my God, what's wrong?! Are you and the girls okay?" Jess asked worriedly, cutting Becker off.

"Jess, relax, we're all fine, it's nothing to get worried over. The bakery delivered the wrong cake and now I'm going to have to drive out there and collect the right one. It's a half hour drive each way, so I won't be back in time to pick Lily up from dance, would you mind going to get her?"

"Good God, don't scare me like that! Yes, of course I'll pick her up, just text me the address of her studio."

"Thanks Jess, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Jess smiled at his comment. "I often wonder that myself."

"I'll see you soon."

Seconds after she hung up the phone her mobile chimed, notifying her of a new text message.

* * *

The lesson was still in progress when Jess arrived at the studio. Waving to Lily, she went to sit in the waiting area with the parents. Sitting down, she settled in to watch the rest of the lesson.

The instructor was leading them through a series of ballet moves, and it was one of the most adorable things Jess had ever seen. Most of them could barely keep their balance, a couple of the kids even fell over as they went down into their pliés. The only thing cuter than their dancing, was seeing them dressed in their dance clothes, they looked like mini ballerinas.

"I'm Molly." Said the woman sitting by Jess.

"Jess." She replied shaking the hand Molly offered.

"So, who are you here for?"

"Lily Becker."

"Oh, my daughter Annie loves her. They go to the same childcare centre and she was thrilled when she found out they were taking the same dance class."

Jess smiled. "That's so sweet, it's nice that Lily has such a good friend."

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but, how old are you? I'm sorry that probably sounded really nosy, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to being asked that." Which was true, it was a question she got constantly as she was going up—the result of being so advanced. "I'm 20."

The shocked look that graced Molly's face was almost comical.

"And Captain Becker?" She asked, a frown creasing her brow.

"26."

 _Where is she going with this?_

"My lord that quite an age difference. I mean, I'm sure it doesn't seem as large now, but not long ago you were just a teenager, and he was still in his twenties. I can't believe he would get someone so young into a situation like this. He had seemed like such a gentleman, though I suppose it's good that he's stayed by you. You must have been, what, 16 when you had her. What was a man in his twenties doing in a relationship with someone so young?"

Jess had a hard time not laughing during the other woman's rant, she had clearly got the wrong idea.

"Well, first off, I was finishing university when most people my age were finishing high school, so I've always been in relationships—both platonic and romantic ones—with people older than me, they're closer to my intellect level. Also, I think you may have the wrong idea. I'm not Lily's mother, I'm not even in a relationship with Becker. He and I work together. We're friends, I just help him out."

"Oh. My. God. I am so sorry; I shouldn't have assumed you were. It's just I've only ever seen the Captain pick her up, and Lily looked so happy to see you, so I just…completely put my foot in my mouth."

"Don't even worry about it, you should hear some of the things I've said to people."

Molly smiled at her. "Thanks for being so calm about it, most of the time people get particularly mad at me."

The lesson ended then and the kids came into the waiting area, saving Jess from answering.

"Jessie!" Lily cried as she ran over.

"Hey sweetie," Jess leant down to hug the younger girl. "Hurry up and get your stuff together, we need to get home and start setting everything up."

"Okay." Lily turned to the little girl standing beside her. "See you waiter Annie, 'member to dress like a princess."

Lily went to gather her bag, leaving Jess with Molly and her daughter.

"Mummy, we gotta go. I have to get ready for the party." Annie whined, tugging on her mother's arm.

"I guess that's my que to leave. Will you be at Lily's party Jess?"

"I will."

"Well, we'll see you later than. And sorry again for before."

"Really Molly, don't worry about it."

Jess had found the exchange to be quite amusing. There she had been earlier, worried about people mistaking her for Becker's girlfriend, she hadn't even thought about being confused for the girls' mother. Though she supposed that was less likely to happen at the party with Maddie around. No one would think she'd be old enough to have a nine-year-old daughter.

* * *

Using the emergency key Becker had given her, Jess let them into the house. They quickly put Lily's dance equipment away and then set about getting the house ready for the party.

Lily had decided on a princess theme for her birthday party. They decorated the living room—which was where the party was taking place—with pink, purple, and white streamers and balloons. They also had foil balloons and banners that read _Happy 4_ _th_ _Birthday._ They covered the tables that would hold the food and presents with Disney princess table cloths. Putting matching paper plates and cups on the food table. Instead of party hats they had paper tiaras for the guests to wear.

"Jessie, are you gonna wear a princess hat?" Lily asked as she took the tiaras out of the packaging.

"Of course, I can't very well go to a princess party without one can I?"

Jess leant down so Lily could place one of the crowns on her head.

The room now set up, Jess went with Lily to help her get into her party dress. The birthday girl had decided to dress as her favourite Disney princess, Princess Belle. She wore a costume version of the yellow dress the princess wore when she danced with the Beast and Jess helped her style her hair so it looked like it did in the movie.

With both the house and the two of them ready, Jess went over to her bag and pulled out the present she had bought for Lily.

"This is for you Lil; I hope you like it."

Lily sat down on the floor and opened the present, her face lighting up when she saw the Princess Belle doll.

"Thank you Jessie!" She exclaimed, throwing herself at the woman.

Becker and Maddie got home then and Lily ran over to them.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what Jessie got me."

"That's great sweet heart, why don't you go put her in your room so she's safe during the party."

"Okay Daddy."

Lily went to put her new doll in her room, Maddie following her.

While the girls went to finish getting ready Jess picked up the cake Maddie had left on one of the tables and took it into the kitchen. Taking it out of the large bakery box, she put it in the fridge so it would stay fresh.

She hadn't heard Becker come up behind her, so when she turned around and saw him standing there, she jumped.

"Thanks again Jess."

Becker leant in quickly and kissed her on her cheek, right near the corner of her mouth. Jess froze, not sure of how to react to what had just happened.

 _See, this is why I'm constantly questioning his motives! He's all over the place._

Becker seemed to realise what he had done then, and Jess saw a faint blush covering his face before he turned and fled the room. Neither of them had noticed that Maddie walked in at the very moment that Becker kissed her, only to turn around and leave again.

* * *

The party was loud; Jess had never been around so many children at once—her brother always did separate parties for her niece and nephew's birthdays: one for their friends and one for the family. She could understand why Becker said he would need help staying sane. Everywhere she looked there were kids running around dressed as princes and princesses.

They had set up activities in the living room and backyard to keep the children entertained. Earlier they had played pass the parcel, which had taken a while to explain to some of the kids. That had been followed with a game of musical statues and 'What's the time Mr Wolf?' Then they had gone outside to take turns trying to break open the castle piñata.

Now they were back inside, having something to eat, and the chaos had truly begun. They ran around, plates and glasses full. Jess winced every time it looked like a drink would spill, or a plate of food would topple onto the ground.

Becker's sister, Melissa, had arrived just before the kids began to, and asides from the pointed look she had shot Becker, she hadn't said anything about Jess' presence. Though if the look was anything to go by, Jess wouldn't be surprised if she later heard that Becker had received an interrogation from his younger sister.

Melissa had been taking photos throughout the party and was currently taking one of the birthday girl, her sister, and their father.

"Now one with Jessie in it." Lily exclaimed the moment Melissa had taken the photo.

"That's okay sweetie, I don't need to be in one."

"Come on Jess, I never thought you'd be one to shy away from having your picture taken." Becker teased.

"I'm not, but you don't really need a photo with me in it, do you?"

"Of course we do. Lily wants one and so do I. Now come over here and have your photo taken."

Jess went to join them on the couch, lifting Lily onto her lap. Again Melissa didn't say anything about Jess being included, but she wasn't quite able to hide her smirk as she took the picture.

* * *

Long after the guests had left Jess was still at Becker's, when she had seen the size of the mess left behind she felt like she couldn't leave. Melissa had stayed for a while, but had to get back to uni for a study group. Though Jess suspected it was more of a date then a study group, since it wasn't starting until eight and she was strategically dodging all of Becker's questions.

Jess and Maddie were in the kitchen washing dishes, while Becker was trying to get Lily to go to bed.

"Jess, can I ask you something?" Maddie asked as they worked.

"Go for it kiddo."

"Are you and Dad dating?"

Jess froze in the middle of rising off a plate.

"Why would you think that?"

"He hugs you all the time."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean anything, friends hug each other all the time. I have a friend, Connor, he hugs me all the time and he's married. It doesn't mean he loves me, just that we're good friends."

"Okay, but I've seen Dad kiss you."

"He's was tired and forgot we're just friends." Jess told her, assuming that Maddie was referring to the day they went to the zoo—when Becker was leaving for work—not knowing that she had seen what happened earlier that day.

"It's okay if you are Jess. I like you, and Dad deserves to be happy."

Jess was speechless. She couldn't believe how mature this nine-year-old girl was. Jess was sure that if her parents separated, she would have trouble seeing her father with someone else. But here Maddie was, just wanting her Dad to be happy.

"I'll tell you what. If Becker and I do ever start dating, I promise you'll be the first person I tell."

"Okay."

Becker came in then, looking frustrated.

"What's wrong?"

"Lily refuses to go to bed, she thinks you're going to leave without saying goodbye. Jess would you mind going to say good night to her?"

"Not at all, I should probably be going now anyway."

"I didn't mean to imply that you should go."

"I know Becker, but it's getting late."

"Oh, right."

For a moment it sounded like Becker was disappointed to see her go. But for all she knew Jess could be reading into it too much, again.

 _Though even Maddie thought there was something going on between us, maybe I'm not imagining things._

Jess followed Becker through to the bedrooms and said good night to Lily, who insisted they read her a bed time story. Becker—who, by this point, was willing to do anything to get his daughter to go to bed—agreed. He and Jess sat on Lily's bed, on either side of her, and Becker began to read.

By the time the story was finished, Lily was snuggled up against Jess, fast asleep. Quietly, they tucked Lily under the covers, exited the bedroom, and made their way back through the house.

"I really should be going." Jess said pausing by the front door.

"Okay, I'll walk you to your car."

They walked to Jess' car in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. As Becker hugged her goodbye, Jess wondered—not for the first time—if there was some deeper meaning behind the gesture. She hadn't been lying to Maddie when she told her that giving one and other hugs was a normal thing for friends to do, but while Jess and Becker had been friends for a long time, it hadn't become a normal thing for them to do until recently. Plus, the embraces she shared with Becker generally lasted a lot longer than the ones she did with Conner.

These thoughts occupied Jess' mind for the entire drive home, and then well into the night. It wasn't until sleep claimed her that she finally got some peace.


	6. Lost

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 6 – Lost**

Monday morning was quiet, something Jess was incredibly grateful for. Since she had gone to Lily's birthday on Saturday, Jess had spent Sunday doing all the errands she normally completed on Saturdays. The long day of running around was followed by going out to dinner with some old uni friends, which on its own was an exhausting affaire. They had gotten in late, which normally wasn't a problem for Jess, but when combined with a day of running around the city, and having to get up early for work the next morning, it made for one incredibly tired young woman. No amount of coffee seemed to help and she was thankful that they had made it to lunch without an alert.

Naturally, when Jess got up to go on her lunch break, her luck ran out and the alarms began to blare. Groaning she turned around and ran back to the ADD. As she worked on pinpointing a location, Becker appeared at her shoulder.

"What've we got Jess?"

"Give me…a minute…got it. Crap, it's a far one. The anomaly's located in the centre of what looks like an outdoor shopping plaza in a small town about an hour north of here."

"Well we better get going then," Matt said as the rest of the team reached the ADD. "Let us know if anything comes through Jess."

"Will do. Be careful." Jess called as they headed out.

"I'll even try to stay warm." Becker said turning back to her, causing Jess to blush.

* * *

By the time the team reached the location Jess had given them a creature had come through the anomaly. The dinosaur was parading around the plaza, thankfully causing minimal damage.

Jess sent an alert out to the local police, claiming that there was an escaped animal and asking them to alert all civilians to remain indoors until the creature was dealt with. The message had been relayed to the business owners in the area and once all civilians were off the streets their doors were locked.

"Stegosaurus," Connor said as they arrived on sight, immediately identifying the dinosaur. "A herbivore, so it won't try to eat us, but I'd still avoid making it angry."

Jess watched on through the CCTV connections as the team got to work sending the creature back home and closing the anomaly, offering whatever help she could.

"Right," Matt said as he began issuing orders. "Connor, go lock the anomaly, we don't need anything else coming through. The rest of us will try and heard that thing back down here. Once it's close enough open the anomaly back up and be ready to lock it again the moment it's through. Let's get to work."

Connor ran off in the direction of the anomaly, a locking device in his hand, and moments later the anomaly was closed.

Meanwhile the rest of the team had set about trying to get the dinosaur back to the anomaly. Two of the soldiers had driven a pair of SUVs around to the other end of the plaza, hoping to use them to push the stegosaurus back in the other direction. The plan was working, but it was slow as the large animal wasn't exactly scared of the two cars, so it moved at its own pace. Jess was sure there was a way they could get it to move faster.

"It looks hungry," Jess said thinking aloud.

"And how is that helpful?" asked an irritated Becker.

"I was just thinking, if it's hungry, maybe you can use food to lour it back through the anomaly."

"It's worth a try." Matt said, open to any plan at this point.

Working off Jess' idea, they started ripping the leaves off the fern trees that had been planted in the area. Getting as close as they dared to, they waved the leaves in front of the dinosaurs to get its attention, once they had it they begun to move back in the direction of the anomaly. Much to Jess' satisfaction the plan she had come up with was working far better than what they had tried originally.

With the stegosaurus close to the anomaly now, Connor turned the locking device off so it could go back through.

It was then that the dinosaur started to get a bit too interested in the leaves Emily was holding up, backing the woman into a parked car and setting its alarm off. The sudden loud noise spooked the creature, causing it to turn around quickly. It's tail hit Becker in the stomach as it turned, sending him flying across the plaza and through the unlocked anomaly, which blinked out of existence once he was on the other side.

"Becker!" Jess screamed having seen what happened over the CCTV.

Lester came running out of his office at the sound of the young woman's scream.

"What the bloody hell is going on? He demanded.

"Becker…Becker…he…he was…thrown through the anomaly. It…it closed behind him." Jess' voice shook as she spoke.

Lester lay his hand on Jess' shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, he—like everyone else—knew how the Field Coordinator felt about the Captain.

"Jess, we've got the stegosaurus sedated and loaded for transport. We're on our way back now."

"Copy that Matt." Jess was grateful she had had the foresight to send a clean-up team and transport truck with them when they left for the anomaly, as she was sure she wouldn't have been much help at the moment.

There was chatter coming in over the radios as Jess tried to process what had just happened. Two of the soldier were arguing about whether they should put some plants in the truck in case the dinosaur came to. They continued to argue until Abby came and put an end to it, telling them that even if they were to do that, the plants they had gathered were useless as stegosauruses didn't eat lilies.

The words caught at something in Jess' mind and she gasped. Turing her earpiece off she turned to Lester, who was still standing behind her.

"Becker's girls! What are we going to do?"

* * *

After the rest of the team retuned, their black box data was downloaded, and the stegosaurus was put in an enclosure in the menagerie, Jess was called into Lester's office. She spent most of the afternoon in there, discussing with Lester what they would do about Becker's daughters. Neither of them wanted to leave the girls to fend for themselves, but they didn't have a clue as to what they could do for them.

After a lot of discussion, it was decided that Jess would tell them what happened; they both thought it would be better if it came from someone the girls knew. Then in the morning they would contact Becker's parents and proceed from there.

Which was why, at the end of her shift, Jess found herself driving to Lily's childcare centre to collect the four-year-old.

Arriving, Jess found the girl waiting in reception with her bag packed. She broke out into a toothy grin when she saw Jess come in.

"Jessie, are you picking me up today?"

"Sure am sweetie," Jess tried not to let on that anything was wrong.

No one tried to stop Jess as she left with Lily, Becker had added her name to the list of people that could pick the girl up weeks ago. Which Jess was grateful for, as she didn't know what she would do if someone had tried to stop her. Jess would have hated it if she had to explain to Lily that her father wasn't coming home in the middle of such a public place.

Jess helped Lily into the car seat she had taken out of Becker's car—where it was buried in the boot—then went around and got in the driver's side.

Lily filled the silence as they drove, regaling Jess with tales of her day, a welcome distraction from the thoughts that had been plaguing her mind since Becker had gone flying through the anomaly. But all to soon they were at the Becker household, where Jess knew Maddie would be waiting, and her worries descended on her again.

Jess let them in and when Maddie saw the woman instead of her father she instantly grew wary.

"Where's Dad?"

"Um…that's what I need to talk to you about." Jess said as she went to sit on the couch, pulling Lily onto her lap. Maddie sat next to her, looking up with wide eyes, and Jess had to fight back tears.

"You guys know your dad's a soldier, right?" Jess continued, happy her voice wasn't shaking.

Both girls nodded.

"Right, well, as a solider, his job can be dangerous, and he often has to go into dangerous situations."

Maddie's eyes widened as she begun to understand Jess' words. "He hasn't died, has he?"

Lily's head whipped around to look at Jess, tears already in her eyes.

"No, he hasn't," _at least I hope he hasn't,_ Jess added silently to herself _._ "But, this morning he went out on a mission with the rest of our team. And…well…he, um…he hasn't come back yet."

"When will be back?" Lily asked, not understanding why Jess and Maddie looked so upset.

"No sweetie, what I mean is everyone has already come back, expect for your Dad. He's missing and we don't know where he is."

"Daddy's not coming home?" Lily's eyes filled with tears again as she looked at Jess.

"Oh honey, we don't know that. He could still find his way back; and in the mean time we've got our best people trying to find him."

Which was true, Connor had lock himself in his lab with the data from the day's anomaly as soon as they got back. He was determined to find a way to reopen the anomaly and bring Becker back. Jess had a feeling that if he knew about Lily and Maddie, Connor would end up working day and night.

Lily flung her arms around Jess' neck and buried her head in her shoulder. Jess could tell by the way her body shook that the little girl was crying, and she wrapped her arms around her, pulling the four-year-old close, offering what comfort she could.

Maddie, on the other hand, moved as far away from them as possible and curled up into herself. Jess wasn't sure, but it looked like the older girl was crying as well.

 _Well why wouldn't she be, she just learnt that she may never see her dad again._

She waited patiently as the two girls grieved the loss of their father. Once they seemed to be doing better Jess told them that they would spend the night at her place tonight and they went to pack each of them an overnight bag.

* * *

That night passed in silence, all three of them grieved for Becker. Though Jess tried to hide how upset she truly was. She had two little girls that needed her to be strong and take care of them that night, and that was what she was going to do, it was what Becker would want her to do.

Tomorrow, her and Lester would speak to Becker's parents and the girls would then have a new home, but until then it was Jess' job to look after them.

They all went to bed early that night, exhausted by how emotional that day had been.


	7. New Home

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 7 – New Home**

The next morning when Jess woke up—for a few blissful moments—it was just a normal Tuesday. Looking at her clock she saw that it was 6am, and she wondered why her alarm had gone off half an hour early. Slowly, her memories of the day before began returning to her. She remembered Becker being thrown through the anomaly, and sadness that had fallen over the ARC at the loss of their captain. She remembered spending the afternoon talking with Lester, trying to decide what to do about Becker's daughters and coming to the conclusion that they would spend the night with her. Thus the reason for the earlier alarm, she had to get Maddie and Lily to school and day-care before going to work.

Jumping out of bed, Jess wrapped a robe around herself and went to wake up the girls. Getting to the spare room where they had spent the night, she found them awake; Maddie already in her school uniform and helping Lily get ready.

"Your awake?" Jess said, surprised.

"We're used to getting up early." Maddie told her, her voice carefully emotionless, she was clearly trying to hide what she felt.

 _The more time I spend with that girl, the more I realise just how much like her father she is._

"Okay, well I'll just get dressed quickly then I'll make you some breakfast."

Jess quickly dressed in one of her more reserved outfits, not wanting to appear disrespectful when they went to speak to Becker's parents. She put on a white shirt, a grey pencil skirt, and a navy blue cardigan. The only form of bright colour she wore were her purple heels with matching belt and headband. Satisfied that she had found the right balance between bright and respectful, Jess set about making breakfast.

"Jessie, do I have to go to day care today?" Lily asked as she stared sadly into her bowl of cereal. "I don't wanna go. I miss Daddy too much."

"I know sweet heart, but I need you to go, just for the morning. I have to go with my boss to talk to your grandparents and tell them about Becker, we also have to work out where the two of you are going to live. I promise as soon as that's over I'll come pick you up, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Lily nodded and went back to her breakfast.

As she dropped each of them off Jess made sure to talk to their teachers, explaining what had happened and asking them to keep an eye on the two girls. She was worried about Lily and Maddie, and knowing someone was watching out for them helped her leave to go to work.

Once she was finished dropping the girls off, Jess met Lester at the ARC and together they left to tell Becker's parents what had happened.

* * *

They arrived at Becker's childhood home forty minutes later. His parents lived in a small house just outside the city, that was clearly well tended to. Pushing the gate open, Jess and Lester made their way up the flower lined path to the front door.

They knocked on the door, which was answered by a woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties.

"Mrs Becker?" Lester asked.

"Yes." The woman answered, a wary look on her face.

"My name is James Lester and this is my colleague Ms Parker, we work with your son. May we come in? We were hoping to have a word with you and your husband if he's home."

"Of course," Mrs Becker moved out of the way to let them in. As they followed her through the house the woman called for her husband. "George, there are some people here that want to talk with us, they say they work with Hilary."

She led them to the living room where they were joined by Mr Becker. The group sat in silence until Lester decided it would be best if they just got it over with.

"Mr and Mrs Becker, I don't know how much your son told you about the work he does but the truth of the matter is it's dangerous. Though, considering your son's a captain in the military I doubt this comes as much of a surprise. Yesterday, your son accompanied his team out on a mission, and it is my unfortunate duty to tell you that he did not return from it."

"He's dead?" Mr Becker asked, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"We don't know. He was separated from his team and we haven't been able to find him since."

"I hadn't realised he still did field work. I thought he stopped that when he requested to be positioned in London." Mrs Becker's voice was quiet.

"He's positon here is a very…unique one."

Silence descended on the group once again. Jess couldn't help but think that, while the Becker's looked saddened by the news they had just received, they didn't look as upset as you would expect parents to look after being told that their only son was missing and possibly dead. They almost looked pleased to hear that Becker's job still sent him out into the field and was more important than they had originally been lead to believe.

 _What kind of people are glad their only son is in a dangerous line of work?_

Not wanting to stay longer than necessary Jess broached the other reason for their visit.

"As I'm sure you know, Becker has two young daughters, and with him gone, they need someone to care for them."

Becker's parents' bodies went ridged at her words.

"Well, I hope you don't expect us to take them in." Mr Becker told them. "We want nothing to do with them. If it weren't for those two, my son would be well on his way to being a great military leader. He was rising through the ranks so quickly, imagine my disappointment when he quit because of his children. He didn't get that from me, so what if his daughters had to grow up without a father, he and Melissa turned out just fine."

Shocked by his words Jess looked to Lester.

"Hilary was an idiot to stay with Bianca when she fell pregnant the first time," Mrs Becker said, continuing her husband's tirade. "Then, just when I thought he couldn't be any stupider, he keeps the girls after their mother runs out."

"Well what was he supposed to do? Run out on them as well?" Jess snapped, she couldn't stand to hear anyone talk about Becker or his daughters in this way. "Look, those girls have already lost a mother and now they've lost their father, they need to know they've still got some family left."

"I think my wife and I have made ourselves perfectly clear on the subject. Thank you for informing us on the status of our son, but I think it's time you left. Please let us know if there'll be a need for a funeral."

Jess mouth dropped open at his words, and it took all of her self-control not to yell at the retired military man as she and Lester left the house.

###

Back in the car Jess was fuming. She couldn't believe how little those people cared about their son, nor could she believe that they would leave their granddaughters to fend for themselves. What kind of people cared more about social standing and career status than they did their own family?

"What'll happen to Lily and Maddie now?" Jess asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"They'll probably end up in foster care, unless you know of another family member that can take them in."

Jess didn't. The only other family member that she knew of was Melissa, and she was in no position to take in two young girls.

There had to be another option. Jess had grown up with friends in the foster system, and the stories they had told her horrifying. Foster kids were always being bounced from house to house, with nothing more than a garbage bag to put their few meagre possession in. More often than not they'd end up under the guardianship of people who had no business raising a child. The amount of stories she'd heard about kids ending up with abusive foster parents was truly terrifying. No child deserved to be put through that, especially those who had lost loving parents.

 _I can't let that happen to Lily and Maddi. I won't._

It was then that Jess made the decision to have the girls stay with her permanently. Or at least until they found a way to bring Becker back.

"They can't go into the foster care system; Lily's devastated and she's only lost the one parent, I can't imagine what Maddie's going through. The last thing they need is to feel like there's no one left in the world who cares about them."

"I agree it's not the best of situations, but if Mr and Mrs Becker don't want to take them in there's nothing you or I can do."

"There is, they can stay with me."

Lester looked at her in shock.

"Look, they can't go into foster care, I won't allow it. The only other family they have that I know of is Becker's sister, Melissa, and there's no way she'd be able to take them in. She's a university student, living in a dorm house with ten other people, she has neither the space or the means to take care of them. I do, so they'll stay with me."

"You do realise you'll have to become a parent to those girls."

"I do. But Becker's been doing this since he was 17, granted he's only been alone for the last four years, but still, surly I'll be able to work it out. At least I won't have to deal with midnight feedings and changing nappies."

Jess' attempt at humour did nothing to reassure Lester.

"Jessica, this isn't like looking after the Captain's kids while he's on a business trip. It could very well become permanent."

"I know," Jess' voice was quiet. "That's why I need you to help me be granted guardianship of Lily and Maddie. I want to make sure any decision I make on their behalf is legal and, more importantly, that no one can take them away from me."

Lester could tell he wasn't going to change Jess' mind and reluctantly agreed to help her however he could.

When they arrive back at the ARC Jess and Lester went their separate ways. Lester up to his office, while Jess—having been given the rest of the day off—went to collect Maddie and Lily.

* * *

It was just midday when Jess got home with Lily and Maddie, who both seemed relieved to be away from school. According to their teachers both girls had been very quiet that day, preferring to be by themselves than to interact with the group. It was unlike them but at this point Jess wasn't worried, it was to be expected considering everything they had gone through in less than twenty-four hours. If the behaviour kept up, then she'd think about consulting someone about it.

When she had arrived at the day care centre to collect Lily the girl had thrown herself at Jess and started crying. Apparently she had been worried someone would come to pick her up that afternoon and tell her that Jess had gone missing as well. It had taken ten minutes for her to reassure Lily that she was fine before they were able to get in the car and go home.

But now it was time for her to tell the girls what had happened that morning, and she was worried about how they would react to the news.

Once they had all discarded their coats and shoes, Jess told the girls she wanted to talk to them. Going into the living room Jess sat down on the couch and pulled Lily in to her lap—like the night before—while Maddie sat beside her.

"Like I told you this morning, I went to meet with your grandparents today. They were very sad to hear about what happened to your dad, and they're very worried about the both of you." Jess thought it would be best if she hid the truth of how the meeting went from Lily and Maddie, she didn't want to make them feel any worse than they already did.

"But, unfortunately, they're not going to be able to take you in like we had hoped."

Maddie's face fell, knowing what that meant. Lily, on the other hand, just looked up at Jess in confusion, she couldn't understand why this was a bad thing.

"That's why I've decided that you're going to stay here with me." Jess said, trying to keep her voice light so the girls wouldn't think that she didn't really want them to stay with her.

They looked at her, and for the first time since yesterday afternoon Jess saw some joy in their faces.

"Really?" Lily asked, clearly happy at the prospect of living with Jess.

"Really. Someone at work is even going to help me get the necessary paperwork done so it's legal."

"What's that mean?" Maddi asked, frowning.

"It means that I'll be able to do anything for you that your dad can do. If there are any school forms that need to be taken care of I'll be able to sign them for you, and if there's an emergency I'll be allowed to stay with you the whole time. More importantly, it means no one will be able to take you away from me."

"Would some do that?" Lily asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"I don't know sweetie, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

By the time that night came around Lily and Maddie seemed to be doing better. They were clearly still worried about their father but it looked to Jess like having their living situation worked out had given them some hope back. They were a bit more talkative than they had been the night before—or even that morning—and it didn't take as much coaxing on Jess' part to get them to eat.

They obviously still missed Becker—she did as well—but they looked hopeful; like they were ready to believe that maybe their dad really would come back to them.


	8. Moving Day

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 8 – Moving Day**

Settling into their new life together was going better than Jess had thought it would. The girls seemed happy living with her and accepted that Jess was now essentially their parent. They still missed Becker—Jess didn't think that would ever completely fade away—and had moments when they'd withdraw to be alone with their grief. In those moments Jess would remind them that—as far as they knew—Becker was still alive, and could be found any day now. She made sure they didn't give up hope that he would return, Jess believed he would and she wanted Lily and Maddie to believe it too.

They quickly came up with a morning routine and fell into it easily. Each day they would wake up early, get ready, and have breakfast together before Jess and Lily would leave at 7:30, so Jess could drop the four-year-old off at childcare and still get to work by 8:30. Maddie had started taking the bus to school to avoid getting there too early, like she had been when Jess was driving her.

In the afternoons Jess would pick Lily up at 5:30, after her shift ended, and together they would stop by Becker's house and collect a few more of the girls' things. They would then return to Jess' flat, where they would put away what they brought over, before the three of them would set about making dinner together.

Yes, life together was going well. Though they still had to move the bulk of the girls' things, including their beds. As it was, they were using the one in Jess' guest bedroom—now Lily and Maddie's bedroom—and Jess was sure they were tired of having to share a bed.

That was why today she had set aside the entire day to move the remainder of their possessions. She had hired a moving truck, and Melissa was coming down from university to help move the lager objects.

They were about to leave when Jess' phone began to ring.

"Hello."

"Jess, it's Connor. I hate to ask but would you be able to come in to work?"

"Why?"

"There's a problem with the ADD, I was called in earlier to fix it but I'm not having any luck. I could really use your help."

Jess sighed. "I'm on my way."

 _Crap! What am I going to do with the girls?_

Jess called Melissa, hoping that she'd be okay with babysitting instead of moving furniture.

"Hey Jess, I was just about to call you." Mel said as she answered the phone, her voice sounding croaky. "I'm really sorry, but I'm not going to be able to help with the move today. I've been feeling sick all week and today it's gotten worse, I don't even have the strength to get out of bed."

Jess sighed again, this was not going as she had hoped.

"That's okay Mel, you can't help getting sick. Feel better soon."

"Thanks Jess."

The two women hang up and Jess went back to trying to work out what to do with the girls.

 _Well, they're just going to have to come with me._

Jess explained to Lily and Maddie what had happened and after quickly packing some things to keep the girls entertained they left for the ARC.

* * *

At the ARC, Jess parked in her normal spot and then the three of them headed across the carpark to the entrance.

"Morning Miss Parker, who've you got here with you today?" The soldier on guard asked as they entered the building.

"Good morning Blake. These are my…nieces," Jess said, intending to keep Becker's secret. "I had agreed to look after them for the day when I was called in, I had no choice but to bring them with me. Lester won't mind."

"Very well Miss," he said, letting them through.

"Jess, why did you tell him we're your nieces? Maddie asked as soon as they were away from the door and walking through the mostly deserted hallways.

"So he would let you come in." She didn't want to tell them that Becker hadn't told anyone he worked with that he had two daughters, in case they got the wrong idea.

Maddie didn't say anything further but Jess could tell from the look on her face that she didn't believe the reason she had been given.

 _That girl is far too perceptive._

In the hub Jess set the girls up at one of the empty desks and told them they weren't to go wandering around, if they need anything to let her know.

"Who're the girls?" Connor asked as she joined him at the ADD.

"My nieces." Jess said giving him the same story she had the soldier on guard duty, her tone stopping any further questions.

They began work on the ADD, Connor explaining that he'd already checked all the external hardware and couldn't find a fault with any of it. Figuring that the problem must be the internal system they ran countless scans, hoping one of them would bring the issue into the light.

She was working so intently that Jess didn't notice when an hour later Lily and Maddie got up from the seats, deciding to explore the facility.

###

After hours of searching they found a virus in the system that was causing the problem. Once that was done, it was easy enough for Jess and Connor to clear it from the network and set up a stronger fire wall.

It was as Jess was doing a final check of the system that Matt came over to speak with her.

"Jess, I was just wondering why it is your nieces are introducing themselves as Beckers?"

Jess' body went rigid and she slowly turned her chair around to face Matt.

"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to keep the panic she felt out of her voice.

"I'll show you. Connor go over and introduce yourself to the younger one."

"Oh-kaaayyy." Connor said as went to do as he was asked.

Walking over to the table the girls were at, Connor sat in the empty seat next to Lily. Matt and Jess moved close enough to be able to hear what was said.

"Hey there, I'm Connor Temple, I'm a friend of Jess'. What's your name?"

"Lily Becker."

"And is that your big sister Lily?" Connor asked trying to hide his shock, he gestured to Maddie who was sitting across from them.

"Yep. Her name's Maddie Becker."

"Well, it was very nice to meet you both." Connor said as he got up and walked over to Jess and Matt.

"Yeah, you're going to have to explain that." He said as he reached them.

Jess groaned. _So much for keeping Becker's secret._

"Okay fine, I'll explain. But not here, in your office," she said to Matt. "You may as well get Abby and Emily to meet us there."

###

As they waited for Abby and Emily to join them, Jess tried to come up with the best way to tell the team who Lily and Maddie were without them freaking out on her. But the two women appeared before she had a chance to come up with a decent plan.

"Okay Jess, explain," Matt said the moment they were all there. "And don't try to come up with some convoluted story to explain why your nieces have Becker as a last name, because I know you only have a brother, so any nieces of yours would be called Parker."

Jess didn't know what was worse; the fact that Matt thought she would do something like that, or that she didn't think of it first.

"The reason they introduced themselves that way is because…they're…Becker's daughters."

The team looked at her in silence, stunned expressions on their faces.

"Becker has kids? How?" Connor asked.

"It's kinda a long story. The short version is that Becker and his girlfriend had Maddie when they were 17 and then Lily was born five years later. Bianca—the girls' mother—left after Lily was born and Becker's been raising them by himself for the last four years."

"Why the hell didn't he tell us?" Abby asked sounding hurt.

"I don't know. Technically he didn't tell me either. I found out by accident and he was forced to explain."

Silence fell again. Jess could tell her friends were struggling with the information they had just received. Not that she blamed them, it was hard learning that someone you considered a close friend had another life you didn't know about.

"But why are they with you?" Matt asked, recovering first.

"Because Becker's parents are horrible people who refused to take in their orphan granddaughters and I refused to let them be put into foster care. I'm trying to be granted guardianship rights, and now that you guys know, I could really use your help."

"Of course Jess, we are your friends and will help you in whatever way we are able. Just tell us what it is you need."

"Lester's been helping me with the case, mainly by getting it pushed through faster than it normally would. But the judge won't make a decision until he receives character witnesses; Lester wrote one but it wasn't enough, he wants some that reflect my personal life. The only people who know me well enough to do that is you."

"Consider it done, anytime you need help we shall be there to provide it."

"Em's right Jess, you don't need to do this alone anymore. Becker was a part of this team and a close friend to all of us, it's only right that we all help look after his daughters."

"Thanks guys, and…well, now that you mention it…"

Jess explained that they were meant to be moving the girls' possessions today and before she had finished talking Matt, Abby, Connor, and Emily had agreed to help her with the move.

* * *

The five of them—plus Maddie, Lily, and a few soldiers that Matt had recruited—arrived at the girls house half an hour later. The soldiers had been just as shocked—if not more so—as the rest of the team at learning Becker's secret, but had jumped at the chance to help their missing captain.

Unlocking the door, Jess slipped into the role she was most comfortable in, and began coordinating everything that needed to be done.

"Matt, you and Becker's men begin loading the furniture into the moving truck. We're taking both the girls beds, their dressers and Lily's toy box. Once that's done, load whatever boxes are ready for transport."

Matt nodded, then he and the men headed in the direction Jess gestured to them.

"Lily, Maddie, go and start boxing up whatever's left in your rooms that we're taking with us. Emily could you go with Lily and help her. Maddie, I'll be in to help you in a moment."

The girls went off to their rooms, Lily taking Emily by the hand and talking to her animatedly as they went.

"Connor, Abby, could you go through the kitchen and living room and box up anything you think the girls my need or want."

"Sure thing Jess."

Satisfied that everyone knew what they had to be doing Jess went to help Maddie pack up her room.

###

Despite the fact that they were taking very little it still took them all afternoon to pack everything, load the truck, and then unpack everything back at Jess' flat.

The first thing they did once back at Jess' was get the spare bed out of her flat, which was later transported to Becker's house to be stored there for the time being. It was a short term solution to the problem, but they were all treating the man's disappearance as a short term problem as well.

The soldiers stayed to help move all the furniture, but left to go back to the ARC as soon as that was done, promising to return the moving van Jess had hired on their way.

Matt, Connor, Emily, and Abby stayed to help set up the new bedroom, and after that the group had dinner together. All of them wanting to make the most of this new connection they had found to the man currently lost in time. They spent the evening getting to know the girls and swapping stories about Becker. Lily and Maddie loved hearing about all the times their dad had been a hero, and the team more than enjoyed the stories of Becker's struggles while raising two girls. It was a fun night, Jess hadn't seen Lily or Maddie laugh so much since she told them Becker had gone missing, and she was grateful to the others for cheering them up so much.

The team stayed until Lily went to bed, deciding then that it was time they called it a night.

"I almost forgot," Abby said just as she was about to leave. "I took this off Becker's fridge. I thought you might want it."

Jess took the piece of paper and turned it over. It was the photo that was taken of her, Becker, Lily, and Maddie at the four-year-old's birthday party. They were seated on the couch in Becker's living room; Jess was sitting next to Becker with Lily on her lap, and Maddie seated on the floor in front of them. The three girls were looking up at the camera, a smile on each of their faces, and Jess' arms wrapped around Lily. Becker on the other hand was looking nowhere near the camera. He was looking to his left, down at Jess and had been caught in a moment of complete openness. There was no mistaking the look of utter love and adoration that was on his face as he gazed down at the woman next to him.

Jess smiled at the picture and hoped that they found a way to bring him back soon.

"Thanks Abby," she said as she hugged the other woman goodbye.


	9. Guardianship

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 9 – Guardianship**

Jess was sitting at the ADD bored out of her brains. They were back down to only a couple of anomalies a week, which Connor thought was normal after the events of convergence. The only down side was that it meant a lot of the ARC's staff didn't actually have anything to do while at work. A fact that was starting to get on Jess' nerves, and not just because she was one of the people that often had nothing to do. It was frustrating her because the people who had no work tended to linger in the hub, chatting, and making it harder for her to focus when she actually had work she could be doing.

She often found herself envying the other members of the core team, who didn't have positions that depended on the anomalies being active. Abby still had her work in the menagerie, and the animals to care for. Matt and Emily had dedicated their time to ensuring the woman knew everything she needed to about life in the twenty-first century. While Connor had thrown himself into his research. He still believed he could find a way to reopen the anomaly that Becker had been lost through. They all believed he could do it and waited anxiously for the day when he would come running out of his lab declaring that he had.

Jess sighed, and wished—not for the first time—that Becker were there.

 _I wouldn't mind it if he was one of the people loitering in the hub distracting me._

It was around mid-afternoon when Lester asked Jess to come to his office, telling her he need to speak with her. Handing the ADD off to one of the lingering techs she entered the office, shutting the door behind her.

"You wanted to see me sir."

"Yes, have a seat Miss Parker."

Jess sat down and waited for Lester to continue.

"I just received a call delivering the judge's decision in your case."

Jess sucked in a breath. The case had been decided, she may now be Lily and Maddie's legal guardian.

"And?"

"The judge has decided to allow you to be Becker's daughters legal guardian until such a point were progress has been made in the Captain's missing person case."

"Which means?"

"It means, when the Captain is either found or pronounced dead, your case will be reopened and a permanent solution will be decided on. A day that may come sooner than either of us want."

"How? Connor still isn't close to having his device ready."

"The Minister is under the impression that if we haven't been able to go after Captain Becker by now, we're not going to be able to go after him at all. He wants to have the Captain pronounced dead and close the case. I managed to buy us some time, but I can't say how long."

"He can't do that! He can't pronounce Becker dead!"

"Unfortunately Miss Parker, he can. I'll do what I can but I can't imagine we have a lot of time left."

"I-I… I have to go tell the others."

Jess left Lester's office in shock. Using their radio links she contacted the rest of the core team and asked them to meet in Matt's office, telling them she needed to speak with them immediately.

###

The team met as Jess requested, each of them waiting anxiously for the woman who had called the meeting to arrive.

"Jess, what is this about?" Matt asked the moment the woman walked in.

"We received the verdict in regards to my request to be the girls' legal guardian."

"I'm sorry, this is a good thing, is it not?" Emily queried.

"Well, it is and it isn't. The judge granted me guardianship on a temporary basis."

"What's that mean?"

"It means I'm their guardian until Becker's either found or pronounced dead, at which point the case would reopen. If Becker is found custody will just revert back to him, which is what I want anyway, so that's not a problem. But in the case of Becker being pronounced dead, I'd be assessed and either remain Lily and Maddie's guardian, or they'd go into foster care."

"So after all this, they're still at risk of going into the system?"

Jess nodded.

"That's not fair!" Connor exclaimed, clearly upset.

"It gets worse."

"Jess, how could it possibly get any worse?"

"Lester told me the Minister wants to have Becker pronounced dead."

"What!" They exclaimed simultaneously before breaking out into a chorus of angry chatter.

"He can't fucking do that!"

"Is that the thanks Becker gets for putting his life on the line every day?"

"There has to be something we can do."

"Lester's spoken with him and he managed to buy us some time, but he doesn't think the Minister will hold out long."

"Connor, have you made any progress towards reopening the anomaly?" Matt asked, the first to recover his composure.

"I have the data from the anomaly that I need, and I think I'm close to having the design for the device done. Then it's just a matter of building it."

"Well you might want to hurry, it doesn't look like we have a lot of time left."

"Right." With that Connor was gone, hurrying through the ARC's hallways back towards his lab, he was determined to get his device done. He wasn't going to abandon Becker, and he certainly wasn't going to risk having Lily and Maddie put into foster care.

 _I just hope he gets the device done in time._

* * *

That night Jess made the girls one of their favourite dinners. She decided that, despite the fact that they had received some horrible news that day, the fact that she was now Lily and Maddie's legal guardian was something worth celebrating. Especially as she was sure the news would make both of them happy. She'd worry about the possibility of the case being reopened once they know if they have a chance of rescuing Becker.

"So I got some interesting news today at work." Jess said as they were eating dinner.

"What?" Lily asked, always willing to talk.

"The judge that was handling our case called my boss today, and I am now your legal guardian."

"So no one can take us away from you?"

"That's right." Jess didn't tell them about the judge's stipulation, or the Minister's decision. There was no point in worrying them when they weren't sure what would happen next.

Both girls were happy at the news. It was clear that this provided them with a sense of security that they hadn't had since Becker disappeared. Jess just hoped that that security would last.


	10. Mummy

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 10 – Mummy**

The school holidays came around and Jess started taking Lily and Maddie to work with her.

Originally she had only intended to take Maddie with her, as day care centres remain open over the break. But once Lily learnt that Maddie was getting to go to work with Jess, she wanted to go as well. After some pouting on Lily's part, Jess agreed to take Lily with them on the condition that she return to childcare when Maddie returned to school.

Lester had kicked up a huff at seeing the girls at the ARC, stating that it was a workplace and not a day care facility. But that changed once Lily turned her big brown eyes on him, and he agreed to let them stay so long as they didn't cause any trouble.

So far, the arrangement was working out well.

Maddie would spend her days with Abby and Matt, splitting her time between the two of them. While she was with Abby she would help out in the menagerie and the Reptile Expert would teach her about the creatures in her care at the ARC, as well as some of the ones she had tended to when working at the zoo. When with Matt, Maddie would help tend to his plants and the man would teach her about the different stages of plant life, as well as the other aspects of botany. Occasionally Abby would let Maddie help feed the herbivores, and those were the days Maddie left with a huge grin on her face.

ARC employees would often remark how much like Becker the young girl was. Maddie was often quiet and reserved, hiding what she felt, a habit she must have picked up from her father. It was hard to get her to interact with anyone other than Jess, Matt, and Abby. It was these similarities that prompted Matt to point out that despite being so similar to Becker, Maddie was still a very different person from him. Sure she had some of his personality traits and habits, but her attitude to the animals and the environment was very different from the Captain's.

Lily, on the other hand, was constantly doted on by Becker's soldiers. Jess often caught them sneaking the girl lollies and giving her piggy-back rides around the ARC. She tried to scold them for spoiling the little girl, but it was hard for the soldiers to take Jess seriously when she was laughing at their antics while trying to tell them off.

Almost every time Jess did a sweep of the building through the CCTV, she found Lily in the gym alongside the soldiers. She would either be sitting on their backs, laughing as they did push ups with her astride them, or practicing her ballet steps as they sparred. Prompting people to comment that while at first glance she seemed nothing like Becker—some people going as far as to suggest that she was more like Jess—as she was quite out going, she clearly shared her father's attitude when it came to being active. It was also suggested that she may share his aptitude for leadership, as she was caught bossing the soldier around more than once.

A beeping noise coming from the ADD brought Jess' thoughts back to the present.

Looking at the screens in front of her Jess saw that the first stage of the systems update she was running was complete. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she set stage two into motion.

She had just finished the start-up process when a soldier came running into the hub. Jess spun around in her chair at the commotion he caused.

"Miss Parker, you're needed in the med-bay." He told her, slightly out of breath.

There were only two reasons that Jess would be called to the med-bay, and they were Lily and Maddie. Fearing the worst she had a tech cover the ADD for her and followed the soldier—who she recognised as Private Johnson—out of the hub.

"Lily was in the gym with us, like she always is," he explained as they hurried through the halls. "She was practicing her dance steps in front of the mirror one minute, and the next she was on the floor, holding her ankle and crying. I'm sorry to say none of us saw what happened."

"It's okay. She's in there every day and she's fine, you couldn't have foreseen that she'd hurt herself today." Jess told Johnson, trying to alleviate some of the guilt the man clearly felt.

 _Though, you'd think with the amount of them in there, someone would have thought to keep an eye of the four-year-old dancing about._

Arriving in the medical section Jess found Lilly being cradled by Lieutenant Williams, Becker's second-in-command, and acting head of security. Maddie and the rest of the core team were there as well, watching on anxiously.

"Mummy!" Lily called, reaching for Jess as soon as she saw her. Jess took Lily out of Lieutenant Williams' arms, who moved off the bed so she could sit with the girl.

"It hurts Mummy." Lily said, tears running down her face. Jess took no notice of what Lily called her, but the rest of the team exchanged concerned looks, they were worried it would cause problems later on if Lily continued to call Jess mummy.

"I know sweetie, but Dr Fray will fix you up. You've just gotta be brave, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Lily nodded and held onto Jess as the doctor inspected her ankle.

"It's nothing serious, just a sprain." Dr Fray told them as she wrapped Lily's ankle in a bandage. "You'll need to ice it every couple of hours and make sure she keeps her weight off of it. If she's complaining of a lot of pain you can give her some paracetamol, but avoid it if you can. The ice should get rid of most of the pain anyway."

"Can I dance?" Lily asked, worry in her eyes.

"Once it's healed, and you're good as new, then you can start dancing again."

"Okay."

"Thank you Dr Fray." Jess said as the doctor left the room, before turning to Lily. "Now, you missy are staying right here until it's time to go home. Understand?"

Lily nodded and Jess pressed a kiss to her head.

"Good; and don't go scaring me like that again."

Lily remained in the med-bay for the rest of Jess' shift, like she promised, and not once did she get bored. Matt, Emily, Abby, and Maddie took turns sitting with her and keeping her entertained while Jess finished running her updates and Connor worked on bringing their father back.

* * *

When they arrived home that night Jess had to carry Lily, who still needed to keep her weight off her ankle but had been unable to use the crutches they picked up at the pharmacy on the way home. She lay the little girl down on the couch, using a cushion to prop up her injured foot.

"Can I've some juice Mummy?" Lily asked once she was seated comfortably.

"Um…sure." Jess was taken aback by Lily's use of the M-word. She had heard Lily call her that when she was being treated, but had assumed she just did it because she was scared and in pain. She had thought that as soon as Lily was feeling better she would go back to calling her Jess or Jessie.

Jess sighed.

 _I'm going to have to talk to her about this. Who knows what Becker will do if he gets back to find his youngest daughter calling me mummy. He'd probably have a heart attack._

Returning to the lounge room, Jess handed Lily the glass of juice and then crouched down beside her.

"Lily, sweetie, you know I'm not really your mummy right?"

The four-year-old frowned at her. "But you make sure we do what we're 'posed to, and look after us, and make us happy."

"I do."

"And you love us, don't you?"

"Of course I do sweetie." It was true, in the time she has known them, Jess had grown to love both Lily and Maddie.

"Isn't that what a mummy does?"

"It…is." Jess had a feeling she had just helped Lily make her point.

"Then you're our mummy." Lily's tone made it clear that it wasn't up for discussion.

Jess smiled at her and kissed her on her forehead. "You just rest your ankle, okay? We'll have you back at dance in no time."

She left Lily in the living room and went to begin making dinner.

 _What harm does letting her call me mummy really do? If it makes her happy, then why let it bother me?_

 _But what about Becker?_

 _I'll deal with that when it becomes an issue. Who knows maybe it won't be a problem? If the look he was giving me in that photo is anything to go by, he might not mind the girls thinking of me as a mother._


	11. The Device

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 11 – The Device**

Sitting at the ADD, Jess found it hard to believe that just a few weeks ago she had been cursing the lack of anomalies. After the week they'd just had, she would love to return to the peace and quiet of previous weeks. The number of anomalies they were seeing had increased again. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been during convergence, but it was enough to keep the team feeling tired and over worked.

It didn't help that as a result of this people were beginning to make mistakes in the field. Nothing that ended in anyone being seriously injured—or worse—just small, silly things, that frustrated the people out in the field with them. Things like not putting the sequence into the locking device correctly—therefore leaving it open longer, allowing a creature through—and accidently shooting a creature on too high of an EMD setting. None of these things had ended in serious injury or loss of life, but they were a pain to deal with.

So far no one had been able to work out why exactly this change had occurred, though many people wondered if it was because of the tests Connor had been doing while trying to create his anomaly opening devices. But despite their fears, no one told him to stop his research. They knew Connor's device was their best chance at rescuing Becker, and they all wanted their captain back.

Putting the ADD in standby mode Jess rose out of her chair, stretched, and went in search of a hot drink, she was in desperate need of a break. Today was the eighth day in a row that the team had had to work, and Jess couldn't take another moment of looking at those computer screens.

Entering the breakroom Jess found Abby and Emily sitting on one of the couches. They both looked as exhausted as Jess felt. Making herself a cup of tea she joined her friends.

"Where are the girls today, Jess?" Emily asked as she sat down.

"Becker's sister Melissa took them out for the day, I thought they could use some time away from the ARC."

"It is nice that they get to spend some time with their aunt."

"Yeah, and I want to make sure they don't feel like they've been cut off from their family or vice versa."

"I'm sure they do not feel that way."

"I hope not. I just don't want them to feel like they're being abandoned or that no one cares about them."

"How could they possibly feel that way Jess? With all you have done to ensure they do not."

"Did you tell them about what the judge said?"

"If you mean about how the case is only temporarily closed; no, I couldn't. I didn't want to taint the first piece of good news they'd received in weeks."

"You know you'll have to tell them eventually."

"I know… I just don't know how to."

They fell into silence, neither Abby nor Emily knew what to say to the young woman that would be of any assistance. It was a delicate situation, and if Jess didn't handle it carefully she could end up causing all the pain she had hoped to avoid.

 _How do I even go about explaining to them that their father is about to be pronounced dead, at which point the custody case will be reopened and they could be taken away to live with strangers._

Connor came running in, stumbling over his own feet and breaking the silence that had fallen over the woman.

"I-I did it." Connor said, panting.

Abby groaned. "Oh Connor, what did you do?"

"I finished it. The anomaly opening device."

The three of them looked at him, shocked, they couldn't believe it. They had all had faith in his abilities to build the device; but the fact that it was done, and they now actually had a chance of rescuing Becker, was almost too good to be true.

"Does this mean we can finally go after Becker?" Jess asked being the first to recover.

"It does."

Like that all the melancholy the past week had left them with, disappeared. They were all overjoyed by the possibility of getting their captain back.

* * *

The team met with Lester in his office to tell him the news. Connor explained that his device was now complete, and after having run some test he was confident that he would be able to reopen the anomaly that Becker had been thrown through.

Lester listened to everything they had to say, his face schooled carefully, so as not to show any reaction.

"Am I right in assuming this means you wish to go through the anomaly in search of Captain Becker?"

"Well that was the point of building the device, wannit?"

"Originally that may have been the case, but the truth of the matter is this mission is no longer supported by the Minister. He wants no rescue attempts to be made."

"What!? But we can't just abandon him!"

"What about Maddie and Lily!? They need him back!"

"You let him go after us when Danny, Connor, and I went missing."

"With all due respect sir, we're not asking for your permission. We're going to go after him with or without your support." Matt told Lester, being the only one able to keep his composure.

Lester regarded them silently.

"Yes I thought that would be the case. Which is why I want this operation to be conducted quietly. You can take a small team to carry out the search, no more than eight people—two of which will remain behind to watch the anomaly and relay information back to the ARC. The team must also consist of only those who have volunteered for the mission, and make sure they know what it is they're getting themselves into."

"So we can only take four of the soldiers on this mission, and only two of them will actually be coming with us. That's going to slow down the search process."

"I'm sorry Mrs Temple but discretion is key here, and the fewer of you there are going on this expedition the more likely you are to get away with it."

"Actually, if it is alright with everyone I would like to remain behind."

Everyone looked at Emily shocked, none of them had thought she would be one to shy away from a trip through an anomaly.

"How come?" Matt asked.

"Jess is going to be busy monitoring this operation, and coordinating any alerts should any other anomalies open, she very well may have to work long hours. She is going to need help tending to Becker's daughters, therefore one of us is going to have to remain behind to provide it. I am willing to be that person, and this way you will be able to take an extra soldier with you."

"Thank you Ms Merchant for understanding that sometime we may not be able to do things the way we would like. Your maturity is a welcome break from these two." Lester gestured at Abby and Connor, who rolled their eyes.

"Speaking of Lily and Maddie, what are we going to do?" Jess asked speaking up for the first time. "Do we tell them that we're finally able to try searching for Becker, and risk getting their hopes up only to crush them? Or do we keep quiet and wait until we know more before saying anything."

The team fell silent, considering their options. On one hand Maddie and Lily deserved to know what was going on, Becker was their father after all. On the other, they didn't want to cause the girls any unnecessary sadness.

It was Abby who came up with the solution.

"I don't think we should mention it. That way, whether we come back with good news or bad, we'll be able to give them the closure they need and be there for them in whatever way we can. But if we come back having learnt nothing, we haven't got their hopes up only to leave them with more questions than they had to begin with."

The team agreed with Abby's reasoning, and after discussing the finer details, they left Lester's office to begin preparing for the rescue mission.

* * *

The next day found Jess and the rest of the team back at the ARC, despite the fact that it was a Saturday. They were going through the anomaly that day, wanting to get the mission under way as soon as possible since they still had the minister's threat hanging over their heads.

Jess was in the office attached to the menagerie with Abby, who was getting ready to leave for the mission. The team had to return to the site of the original anomaly to be able to open the one for them to go through. This had annoyed most of the people going on the exploration, none of them wanting to waste the time they could be searching for Becker making the long drive out there. But once Connor had explained that they needed to do this so they would cross into the same area Becker would have landed in, they saw the reasoning behind it and agreed it made sense.

"Are you nervous about going through the anomaly?"

"Not really."

"I would be; I'd be terrified it'd close."

"I mean, yeah, that's a possibility, but you guys have the opening device now so I'm not too worried about it. Besides I've already survived a year living amongst dinosaurs, what's one more."

"Don't even joke about it. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Matt, and Connor as well."

"Sorry Jess, that was insensitive. Don't worry about us okay, we'll all be fine."

Abby looked at the normally cheerful field coordinator.

"Is there something else bothering you?"

"I just can't stop thinking about the whole Becker being pronounced dead thing, and the possibility of the girls' case being reopened any day now. What if they decide to put them into foster care?"

"Hey, don't think about it. None of it has happened yet, and if today goes well it never will. There's no point stressing over something that may never happen."

"Just promise me you'll try to make sure it does go well."

"I promise Jess, we're all going to come back."

The two women hugged and then it was time for Abby to go and meet up with the rest of the search team.


	12. Rescue Mission

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 12 – Rescue Mission**

As the team made their way to the sight of the original anomaly, Jess sat at the ADD and did what she could to help them. She hacked into the CCTV cameras that were in the area and began looking for a place where they could safely open the anomaly. Unfortunately, they weren't able to open it in the same location the previous one had been in, as it was right in the middle of the shopping strip, and since it was a Saturday, that strip was currently full of people. She found an alleyway behind the line of shops that was deserted and near the first anomaly's location.

"Matt," Jess said, tapping her earpiece to turn the radio link on.

"Yes Jess?"

"I've found an alleyway that you'll be able to open the anomaly in, it's close to where the first one was, so you shouldn't be too far from where Becker would have crossed to. I'm sending the coordinates to you now."

"Thanks Jess, good work."

The team arrived on sight then and began setting up the device, and a few moments later an anomaly sprang into existence. The ADD's alarms blared and Jess assured everyone that it wasn't a proper alert, it was just the ADD picking up the anomaly the team had opened and that they could all relax. Her fingers flew across the keyboards as she typed in a few codes, and seconds later the alarms fell silent.

Jess watched on as Abby, Connor, and Matt—accompanied by three of the soldiers—crossed through the anomaly. As she watched her friends and colleges disappear through the shining ball of light, it was all she could do to hope that that wasn't the last time she would see them.

After that Jess really wasn't able to be of much help, all she could do was note down any information that the soldiers left behind sent back to her. They weren't able to send back a lot of information and what they did send did very little to reassure anyone.

* * *

A couple of hours after the team had disappeared through the anomaly, Lily came to stand beside Jess' chair.

"Mummy, when are we going to leave for dance class?"

 _Crap! I forgot Lily had dance class today_.

"Um, sweetie, I'm not able to leave. But…Emily is around here somewhere, how about I see if she can drive you to your dance class?"

"Okay."

Jess tapped her earpiece to switch it over to the channel that was used within the ARC.

"Emily, are you on the com's system at the moment?"

"I am Jess, what can I do for you?"

"Lil's dance class starts soon but I can't take her."

"Not a problem, I shall take her. I will be there in a moment."

"Thanks Em."

Five minutes later Emily was walking up to the ADD to collect Lily.

"Here, take my car," Jess said handing Emily the keys. "That way you won't have to move her car seat. All her gear is in the boot, and this is the address."

Emily took the piece of paper Jess held out to her.

"Thanks again Emily, this is a big help."

"Nonsense, this is what I stayed behind for. Now, come along Lillian."

The four-year-old screwed up her face at the Victorian woman.

"I don't like being called that. My name's Lily."

The young girl crossed her arms defiantly.

"My apologies. Would you please come with me Lily?"

"That's better."

Lily took Emily's hand, and Jess laughed as she watched them leave the hub. Only Lily could stare down the Victorian like that, anyone else who dared to try soon regretted the action.

* * *

Because they worked at the ARC and none of their plans could ever go smoothly, an anomaly opened up around mid-afternoon.

Jess groaned.

 _Oh for fucks sake! Now I have to monitor the rescue attempt AND coordinate an alert. Cause I really needed the extra stress._

Looking up the coordinates of this new anomaly, Jess relayed them back to the beta team, who were handling all alerts in place of the core team. The anomaly was located in a park not too far from the ARC, and at this point it didn't look like anything had come through.

The beta team left and Jess was feeling positive about this alert.

 _Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll be a really simple alert with no incursion._

But no sooner than Jess had thought the words, the anomaly flickered, and a woolly mammoth came through.

 _Oh bloody hell! I just had to go and jinx it didn't I._

Luckily the park was attached to a school, so Jess was able to watch over the team in the field through the school's security cameras.

Herding the mammoth back through the anomaly was no easy task, mammoths weren't exactly the most compliant creatures. There were moments when Jess thought the anomaly would close on them and they'd have to transport the creature back to the ARC, which would probably be harder than trying to get it to walk through the anomaly.

 _Though something tells me Lester wouldn't object to having another mammoth around._

Jess spent an hour and a half dividing her attention between watching the team with the mammoth and monitoring the rescue attempt. Every couple of hours one of the soldiers on this side of the anomaly would swap with one of the ones that had crossed though. They did this so the search party was able to keep track of how much time was passing, as Connor had explained that his device didn't have an infinite battery supply and would run out of power and switch off after eight hours, closing the anomaly when it did.

Each time a new soldier came back Jess would throw question after question at them, hoping to find out something about how the search was going and the status of the team. But each time she got the same answers. The team was doing well, they'd had some encounters with creatures but everyone was okay, no sign of Becker yet. She was almost ready to give up hope of ever finding him.

Eventually the team in the field got the mammoth back through the anomaly, returning to the ARC unharmed, and Jess was able to go back to monitoring just the one team.

As the field team returned their black boxes Jess realised it was almost time to pick Lily up from dance class, and again she was unable to leave. She spoke to Emily, who was more than happy to go and collect the girl.

Just before Emily left Maddie approached the two of them. Jess smiled at her, she hadn't seen a lot of the nine-year-old today and was wondering how she had been doing.

"Jess, could I go hang out with Ruth and some people from school?"

"I don't know…"

"Please Jess, I've been so bored all day with everyone gone."

"I would be happy to drop her off."

"You sure, Em?"

"Of course, I am going out anyway."

"Okay then. But call me when you want to be picked up, I don't want you taking transport home, especially if it's after dark."

"I will, thanks Jess."

Maddie gave Jess a tight hug, and Jess was surprised at how long the girl lingered. It was like she was saying goodbye for good instead of a couple of hours.

* * *

At seven o'clock that night Jess was still sitting at the ADD, Lily on her lap watching a movie on her laptop. There had been no activity at the sight of the rescue mission for over an hour now and Jess was beginning to worry about what this could mean. It was getting close to the deadline and nothing had happened since the last swap an hour ago. It was making her anxious, and she could tell that the soldiers that had been left behind felt the same way.

Suddenly she saw the anomaly flicker and she had Emily take Lily away, not wanting the little girl to see whatever was about to happen. Jess gasped as she saw the search team come back through the anomaly, looking a little worse for wear.

"Medical team to the following coordinates immediately," Jess said into the communications system, happy that she had had the foresight to keep a team on standby all day.

Switching channels Jess spoke to one of the soldiers guarding the anomaly. "Private Johnson."

"Yes Ms Parker."

"I'm sending you the coordinates of a small motel that's approximately 20 minutes from where you are. I've reserved a room there and have a medical team en route, make sure everyone gets there and is looked over."

"Copy that Miss."

Jess sat anxiously as she watched the team come through, bitting her nails and looking for one person in particular. A grin broke over her face as she watched Becker—with the help of one of his soldiers—walk through the anomaly, an amazed look on his face, like he couldn't quite believe he was back.

"Come on mate," she heard Connor say over the coms that had come alive the moment they all crossed back into the present. "I can think of a couple little girls back home that I know are dying to see you."

"CONNOR!" Jess shrieked as Becker looked at the man with a stunned expression on his face. "You're not meant to know about them, remember!"

"Oops, sorry. But he had to find out eventually right?"

Jess saw Becker frown until he realised Connor wasn't speaking to him.

"Someone give Becker one of the spare earpieces I sent with you."

Jess watched as Becker put in the earpiece he was handed and waited until she knew it was online before changing them onto a private channel and continuing to speak.

"Becker, I'm sorry. I know your probably really confused right now, especially about Connor knowing about Lily and Maddie, but I promise to explain everything when you get back to the ARC. For now, just get to the motel where the medics are meeting you and get checked out, okay."

Becker moved away from the group, knowing Jess had them on a private line.

"Jess?"

"Yes, it's me."

"God, I was beginning to think I would never hear your voice again."

Jess had to hold back the tears that were threatening to overcome her. When Becker had moved away from the group he had unwittingly moved closer to the CCTV camera and Jess could now clearly see how bad of a state he was in, and it tore her up. Noticing the change in Jess, Lily went over to her and tried climbing onto her lap, so she could give the woman a hug.

"Not right now Lily, I'm working," Jess said wiping her eyes. "I need you to stay with Emily okay."

The girl nodded and walked away.

"Jess, are they at the ARC with you?"

"Yes, but Becker I'll explain later okay? Just get yourself looked at, please for me." Jess' voice trembled as she spoke.

"Okay, I will," Becker spoke quietly, trying to reassure Jess. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm not the one covered in blood."

"Would it help if I told you it isn't all mine?"

"Is that the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"It isn't all mine."

"Good. I'm going to switch us back to the team's channel now. Oh, and Becker?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really happy you're okay, and that you're back."

"So am I Jess. I'll see you soon. I promise."

Jess changed the channel they were on and watched as Becker re-joined the rest of the team.

"Come on mate, let's get you to that motel and clean you up. If you get back looking like that you'll terrify your daughters."

Jess saw Becker wince slightly at Connor's casual mention of his kids but he didn't say anything.

Forty minutes later Matt radioed in to tell them that Becker had been looked at and aside from being dirty and covered in blood, he was mostly okay. He had a couple bruised ribs and he'd sprained one of his wrists, but other than that he was in good health and they were on their way back to the ARC.


	13. Home Coming

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 13 – Home Coming**

Jess sat beside Lily as the little girl drew in her colouring book. She was incredibly happy that they had managed to find Becker and bring him home, but she was also nervous about seeing him again. What was he going to think about her looking after the girls while he was gone? Would he be mad that they hadn't gone to stay with his parents?

 _Not that we didn't try going down that road._

Or will he just be happy that they hadn't had to go into foster care?

 _Then there's the fact that Lily's still calling me mummy. Surly that won't go down well._

And what will happen to their relationship? Will what they've both been through over the last few months change anything between them? If it does, will it be a good change? Or a bad one?

He had seemed happy to speak to her earlier, though that could've been because he's been on his own for months now. But then what was all that about thinking he was never going to hear her voice again? You don't really say things like that to someone you considerd just a friend. A friend's voice isn't exactly high on the list of things you miss when you've been cut off from everything you've ever known.

 _Great. He's been back just over an hour, I haven't even_ _ **seen**_ _him yet, and he's already confusing me._

Emily entered the hub and came over to Jess, drawing her mind away from the thoughts of Becker that were swirling around inside.

"I have spoken with Matt and he says that they should be arriving here any minute now, shall I go collect Maddie so she may see her father?"

 _Crap, I forgot about Maddie. How did I forget about someone who's essentially been my daughter for the last five months?_

 _Well you have had a lot on your mind._

"Yeah we should probably bring her back here, Becker will want to see her. Are you sure you don't mind going? I can go get her, you've already done so much for me today."

"No, you should be here when the Captain returns. I shall go."

"Thanks Emily."

Jess hugged the older woman, grateful that she had friends that were willing to do so much for her.

###

Not long after Emily left Jess heard people running towards the hub. She turned to the entrance to see what the commotion was, only to freeze up when she saw who had come running in.

Becker stood there, looking just the same as he had the day he went missing. He had obviously showered, as all the blood and dirt was gone, and the beard he had been sporting had been shaved off. He had been given a new set of cloths and his hair had even been cut. At first Jess wondered why they had bothered doing this, but then she realised they must have wanted to make him look as normal as possible, so his daughters would recognise him.

They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving. Jess wanted nothing more than to run across the room and throw herself into his arms, like she had after defusing that bomb. But there were too many people around. Besides, there was someone else who needed a hug from him more than she did.

Jess tapped on Lily's shoulder, and when the girl looked at her she nodded to the entrance. Lily looked in the direction Jess indicated and once she saw who was standing there, she was out of her seat and running across the room.

"Daddy!" She cried as Becker scooped her up.

The team watched on as Becker held his daughter tight, her body shaking as she sobbed into his shoulder. Becker gently bounced from side to side as he held her—like he did when he was trying to get her to go to sleep as a baby—and murmured reassurances in her ear.

It was a sight that surprised the other people in the room, bringing tears to most of their eyes. No one except for Jess had ever seen what Becker was liked when he interacted with his daughters, and it was amazing to see how soft and loving the man could be.

"Mummy said you'd be back, and she was right."

Becker looked at Jess, frowning in confusion at Lily's words, and effectively breaking the spell that had fallen over them.

Jess knew that she needed to say something, that she had to explain what Lily meant, but she was at a loss for words. Surprisingly, it was Connor who came to her rescue.

"Come on Lil, why don't we let your dad and Jess talk. You and me can go finish watching Tangled."

"Okay." Lily reached over to Connor, who took her from her dad and carried her from the room.

Jess and Becker went into one of the unused labs attached to the hub so they could talk in private.

"I'm sorry about that Becker," Jess said as soon as the door closed behind her. "That probably came as a shock to you, but then a lot of things today probably have. We needed someone to look after them and this was the only solution we could come up with, your parents weren't…able to do it so we went with the only other good option we could think of. I swear Lester and I didn't mean for your secret to come out, it just sorta happened. Though if Lily didn't introduce herself so formally it probably wouldn't have happened, sometimes I wonder…"

"Jess, slow down," Becker said cutting her off. "It's a lot of information to take in."

"Right, sorry. Maybe I should start from the beginning."

"That would be good. How did the team find out about the girls?"

"I was called in to help Connor fix the ADD one weekend and didn't have anyone to look after the girls so I had to bring them with me. Then Lily decided to go around introducing herself to everyone, making sure to use her full name, and…well they put two and two together."

"Okay, but why are they here now?"

"Technically only Lily's here. Maddie's at a friend's, but Emily's gone to pick her up, they should be back any minute."

"That doesn't answer my question, Jess."

"Well, it started…"

"Wait, started? How long have they been coming to the ARC?"

"Well, if you let me finish. It started when school holidays came around. I didn't know what to do with Maddie, I didn't want to leave her home alone all day, so I decided to bring her to work. I thought she could help out with some of the office work Lester always has me doing. But when Lily found out she wanted to come as well, and…well she's very good at convincing people to do what she wants."

Becker laughed at the description of his younger daughter, knowing it was an accurate one.

"You said _you_ didn't want to leave her home alone. Jess, are you who's been taking care of them?"

Jess nodded not meeting his eyes.

Becker's head reeled, he couldn't believe Jess did that for him, that she took in his two young daughters when he wasn't there for them. Then something Lily had said tugged at his mind.

"So when Lily said Mummy, she meant…?"

"Um…yeah, she um…meant me." Jess wouldn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want your daughter thinking of me as her mother. Especially when you and I are just friends. I did try to discourage it, but her reasoning was surprisingly logical."

When Becker didn't say anything Jess assumed it was because he was angry. But the next she thing she knew he had closed the space between them, and was gently cupping her face as he captured her lips with his. At first Jess was shocked, she certainly hadn't expected their conversation to take this turn. But then she was responding to the kiss, running her hands up his chest and into his hair.

The kiss ended when their need for air became too great and they pulled away, Becker resting his forehead on Jess'.

"I promised myself that if I ever got back I would tell you how I feel about you. The fact that you, Lily, and Maddie get along so well, and that you clearly care about them…it makes me love you even more."

"You love me?" Jess pulled away from him, just far enough to look into Becker's eyes.

"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone other than my daughters."

"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I love so much Becker, when I saw you get thrown through that anomaly I died inside. If it wasn't for Lily and Maddie, I don't know what I would have done. They took care of me just as much as I did them."

Tears had started rolling down Jess' checks as she spoke and Becker pulled her into a tight embrace, tucking her head in under his chin.

"Shh. It's okay, Jess. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." He murmured quietly as he stroked her hair.

"I know, but… Becker I was beginning to think you were dead." She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him, trying to get as close to him as possible. She needed the physical contact to know he was really there.

Becker held her as Jess let all the grief she had been holding back for months' flow out of her system.

"Move in with me." He said when Jess' breathing had evened out.

Jess looked up at him. "What?"

"Move in with me. I know it may seem fast, and I'll understand if you're not ready, but if this experience has taught me anything, it's that life changes in an instant. I don't want to waste any more time than I already have. I love you Jess, I want to go to sleep every night with you in my arms and I want you to be the first thing I see every morning. I want to come home after a long day at work to you, Lily, and Maddie and know that everything is right in my world."

Jess didn't know what to say. He was right, it was fast, but maybe that was okay. She had already been acting as a mother to Lily and Maddie for months now, and she'd loved Becker for as long as she's worked at the ARC. Maybe moving in together wouldn't be that crazy. If she was being honest they had been acting like a couple ever since she found out about the girls; taking turns picking Lily up from day care, the four of them going out on weekends, spending their evenings together. The only difference was eventually one of them would leave. They already acted like a family, maybe it was time to make it official?

"Okay." The moment she agreed, Becker swept her up and spun her around, a huge smile on his face.

It was as they were rejoicing that Connor came into the lab.

"Um…sorry to interrupt."

Jess and Becker both froze, they knew something had to be wrong if Connor wasn't teasing them about catching them together.

"What is it Connor?" Jess asked.

"It's just that…well, we…um…we can't exactly find Maddie."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"Temple, where is my daughter?"

"We don't know. Emily went to pick her up from her friend's house but she wasn't there—apparently they weren't even expecting her—so she went to your flat to see if she was there and she wasn't. We think she may have run away."


	14. Rest of Our Lives

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Primeval or its characters.

* * *

 **Secrets**

 **Chapter 14 – Rest of Our Lives**

Jess, Becker, and Connor joined the rest of the team in the hub. They were all worried about Maddie and couldn't believe that she would run away.

"Jess, Becker, I am so sorry. This is all my fault, I should have stayed and made sure she went into the house." Emily said, coming over to the couple when she saw them enter the room.

Becker didn't say anything, he just went over to talk to Matt, who had already begun to organise a search party. Jess watched as Becker scooped Lily into his arms, she could see how worried he was about Maddie.

"Don't blame yourself Emily, you couldn't have known she would do this."

"The Captain must hate me."

"Becker doesn't hate you Em, he's just worried about her."

"But I lost his daughter."

"No you didn't, she ran away; and believe me when we find her—which we will—she is going to be so grounded. She's not going anywhere again until she's my age."

Despite how worried she was Emily managed to laugh at Jess' comment.

"Motherhood agrees with you Jess."

They joined the rest of the team to find that the plans for the search had been made. They were going to split into groups of two and search the different places she could have gone. Abby and Connor were going to check the places Maddie and her friends would hang out, Matt and Emily would check her school and with her other friends, while Becker and Lieutenant Williams were to check the places Becker used to take the girls on the weekends. Jess, on the other hand, was going to stay at the ARC and see if she could locate her through CCTV.

Before the team left to begin searching Jess pulled Becker aside. She wanted to make sure he was okay. The man had been through a lot in less than twenty-four hours and she needed to know how he was holding up.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I don't know. I'm worried about her. I can't work out why she would do this."

"Neither can I," Jess reached up and made Becker meet her eyes. "But we'll find her, okay."

He nodded. "I'm going to take Lily with me. I know she'll be safe here with you, but…I feel like I need her with me at the moment."

"Okay."

Becker pressed a quick kiss to her lips before leaving with the rest of the search party and Lily.

Jess went over to the ADD and began doing her part to locate Maddie.

###

Jess had been sitting at the ADD for twenty minutes, going through every CCTV feed that she thought Maddie may turn up on, and so far she hadn't had any luck. This didn't surprise her though, as there were a lot of places the nine-year-old could have gone that aren't accessible by CCTV.

 _There has to be a better way to go about this. There must be something else I can do._

That was when Jess got the idea to track the phone she had given Maddie when she had started taking the bus to school. Minutes later she had a location, and Jess just hoped that Maddie was there, and that she hadn't dumped her phone somewhere. Grabbing her keys Jess left the ARC and a little while later was arriving at the location her search had given her.

Scanning the area Jess saw Maddie sitting on a bench in a small park across the road from where she had parked her car.

Sighing in relief she pulled out her phone and called Lieutenant Williams.

"Yes Ms Parker."

"Could you put Becker on please, I need to speak to him."

There were the sounds of the phone switching hands before Becker came on the line.

"Jess?"

"Becker, I've found her."

"Oh thank God. Where is she?"

"She's at that small park around the corner from your house."

"How the hell did she get there?"

"I don't know. I'm there now, I'm going to go see if she'll talk to me."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

Jess hung up and made her way across the park to Maddie.

"Madeline Elizabeth Becker, you are in SO much trouble young lady." Jess said as soon as she's within hearing range. "Do you know how worried we've all been! What would possess you to pull a stunt like this?!"

"Jess! How did you find me?"

"I spend my days tracking soldiers as they case after dinosaurs. Do you really think I can't find one nine-year-old? Now answer my question."

Maddie looked at the ground and her voice was quiet as she spoke. "I heard you and Abby talking. I know Dad's dead and that we're going to be taken away from you."

 _Crap, I didn't know she was in the menagerie this morning._

Jess sighed and sat down next to the girl, draping an arm across her shoulders.

"I was telling Abby my fears," she told her in a quieter voice. "I promise you that's not going to happen."

"How can you be sure? It's been five months and there's been no sign of Dad, and what if someone decides you're not good enough to look after us and we get taken away. I know that can happen, it happened to one of my friends."

"I can be sure because yesterday we finally got a location and were able to send out a search team to look for your dad this morning. They came back with Becker—alive—not long after you pulled your disappearing act."

"Dad's alive? And he's back?" Maddie's face lit up.

"He is."

Maddie looked ecstatic at the news and for a while she was truly happy. But moments later her face fell again.

"What's wrong?"

"This means we'll be moving back with Dad, which is good cause I missed him. But I liked having a Mum again. Why do I always only get one or the other? What's wrong with me? Why can't I have both?"

Maddie started crying and Jess pulled her into arms.

"Oh honey there is nothing wrong with you. What happened between your mum and dad had nothing to do with you. As for not living with me anymore, well…that's not exactly the case."

"What d' you mean?"

"When we move yours and Lily's stuff tomorrow, we'll be moving mine as well."

"You're going to be living with us?"

"I am."

"Does this mean you're Dad's girlfriend?"

Jess nodded. "And you're the first to know, just like I promised."

A genuine smile took over Maddie's face then and she hugged the woman sitting beside her.

"It really will be like you're my mum."

Becker arrived then and was soon jogging towards them, while Lieutenant Williams waited with Lily by the car.

Seeing her father Maddie ran to him, meeting him half way.

Jess watched as Becker dropped down to be at the same level as his daughter and pulled her to him. Like Lily, Maddie started crying in to his shoulder, overjoyed by the fact that her father was home unharmed.

Becker pulled back so he was able to look at Maddie and Jess saw that his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"Don't you ever disappear on me like that again. Understood?"

"I won't if you won't."

Becker smiled, glad to see her sense of humour hadn't changed in the last five months.

"Why don't we go home? It's been an emotional day for all of us." Jess said joining them.

Together they made their way across the park to where Jess had left her car.

* * *

The following day was spent moving the girls' possessions back into their home, as well as starting to move Jess into the house. Though it looked like moving Jess was going to take longer than they had originally thought. The woman had a lot of clothes and even more shoes. When Becker saw just how many items she did have, he was incredibly glad that his room had two double wardrobes built into it and promptly cleared one out for her to use.

Then there was the question of what to do with everything else in her flat. They didn't need the furniture or any of the kitchen wear, but Jess insisted on taking her linens, telling Becker she wasn't going to sleep on a bed that looked like it belonged to a solider.

"But Jess, it does belong to a soldier." Becker had pointed out.

"Not anymore it doesn't."

Becker's response to this had been to pull Jess close and kiss her deeply. He could put up with sleeping in a girly bed so long as Jess was there next to him.

Jess also brought her bookcase and small collection of books with her, which Becker thankfully had the space for.

They decided that they would move everything they had the space for that Jess wanted to keep, and then would sell whatever was left on eBay. Which was mainly the furniture and kitchen wear.

Matt, Connor, Abby, and Emily helped them with the move, which Becker and Jess both appreciated as it was such a big job. Jess was surprised that none of them said anything about her moving in with Becker. Though Abby did make sure to find the time to pull the young woman aside to check that this was want Jess really wanted.

She had thought they were moving a bit fast, but once Jess explained what their relationship had been like before Becker left, even she agreed that moving in together seemed inevitable. Though she still made the young woman promise that if her feelings ever changed she would come to her.

The rest of the team were just happy this meant the Captain and the Field Coordinator would no longer be dancing around each other.

###

That night they all decided to turn in early, exhausted from the move.

Jess was lying in bed reading when Becker came into their room and stopped in the doorway. When he had been standing there for five minutes, clearly with no intention of moving, Jess looked up from her book.

"Is there a reason you're standing there staring at me?"

"Just taking in the sight of you in my bed," Becker said as he went to get in beside her. "I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it."

"Well, if it's that off putting I'll just have to leave." Jess put her book down and went to get out of the bed.

Becker pulled her back down, making her giggle, and rolled so she was underneath him.

"I don't want you to leave."

Jess could see all the love he felt for her reflected in his eyes as he hovered above her.

"I'm not planning to. I'll be right here for as long as you want me."

Becker smiled down at her. "You do realise you've just committed to us spending the rest of our lives together."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Becker closed the little space between them and kissed her deeply, putting everything he felt for her into the kiss.

As they kissed Jess couldn't help but think that though the last few months had been hard, trying, and emotional, if it meant ending up with Becker, she would go through it all again.

* * *

 **That's the end. I hope you all enjoyed the story, I certainly enjoyed writing it (which was probably pretty obvious considering how often I updated it). Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it was great to hear that you were enjoying the story and about your thoughts on Lily and Maddie. Until next time X**


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